The Challenge
by FastForward
Summary: A compilation of oneshots with specific characters in situatiations given by readers. You'll get it once you read the first 'chapter'. COMPLETE!
1. The Challenge

**A/N: This Challenge is now CLOSED. I may do another in the future depending on how much people liked this one, and depending on whether or not people ask me to do another one. I'm sorry if you didn't get in before the fifty-mark hit.**

Yoooo...

I know I'm not meant to have Author's notes as chapters, but everything will be clear to you once you have read this. This is a challenge. I like challenges, because they're fun. They're also hard, but—you know, that's why they're... challenges... Yes... Anyway, this is not a challenge for YOU, it is a challenge for ME. Here's how it goes:

I have seven favourite characters:  
- Sasuke  
- Kiba  
- Naruto  
- Gaara  
- Lee  
- Neji  
- Shikamaru

I am willing to write FIFTY (50) one-shots on any of these seven characters. Now comes the challenge part... I want YOU to provide me with a character and a situation (since I'm only doing fifty, it's first come first serve). You tell me which of these seven characters (can include pairings) you would like to see doing something or other. I will NOT do lemons, so please don't ask me for smutty one-shots of PWP, cause I won't do it. Sorry.

You can ask me to do a one-shot involving other characters as well, but you have to be aware of the fact that the focus will be on one of the seven above. I can't write a one-shot based entirely on, say, Deidara. You can ask for me to put Shikamaru and Deidara together in a pub and have it end with them doing a battle of wits in Shogi or something, that's fine. But you can't ask me to have Deidara sitting in a tree staring at clouds and contemplating life.

So, all you have to do is either PM me or leave a review here. What you need to tell me:  
- Which character(s) you want in this one-shot.  
- What kind of situation they will be in.  
- Any specifics you would like to see (for example, you tell me you want them to be in a school musical, but Neji has to be wearing a duck suit).  
- Pairings, if any.

I will try my best to get these out as fast as possible, but as I'm working on a very demanding fic PLUS a sequel, I can't make promises on how fast they will be. Also, it will depend on how many reviews and PM's I get.

You can submit TWO requests, at the most, and that's IT. I don't want to play favourites, cause it's not fair, and rest assured, I WILL check names to make sure I don't do someone more than twice. If you wrote in two requests but change your mind on one of them because you got a better idea, write to me IMMEDIATELY to let me know. If I've already done it, then—I guess you get lucky and have three. If I haven't, I'll scrap the one you don't want and go with your new idea.

I hope you guys enjoy this and have loads of fun with it. :)

Sarge.


	2. Sociopath

#1)  
Request by: Itachi4thewin  
Characters: Itachi and Gaara  
Spoiler: YES! Including in the situation. If you haven't read the manga, don't read this one. I don't want to ruin it for you.  
Situation: Gaara's capture by the Akatsuki. Portray how Gaara and Itachi would act when together, since they both have sociopathic tendencies.  
Pairings: No pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: This was very hard because Gaara and Itachi aren't really talkers. Also, you'll have to try and overlook the fact that Gaara was unconscious when he reached the Akatsuki base, because otherwise, this wouldn't work. Bear with me, here. **

**Props to my good friend Ryan for this situation. It was a really good idea. Hard, but good... I lost, Ryan... You made me lose! (explanation to this "I lost" in the sequel of Roommates, to those of you who will read it).**

* * *

Uchiha Itachi walked down the long corridor lit with torches, ignoring the other Akatsuki members as they greeted him. He was told to check on the Jinchuuriki while the preparations were made. Personally, he didn't understand why _he_ had been chosen for this particular task. 

The Uchiha stopped before a door at the end of the long, dark corridor and pushed it open.

Sabaku no Gaara looked up from his position in the corner, manacles around his wrists and a glare that could melt the flesh right off your bones. Luckily for Itachi, he had glares just as vicious, and thus, was unaffected.

Gaara and Itachi continued to stare at one another until the Kazekage turned away, looking back down at his manacled hands. He grit his teeth angrily and clenched his fists. He was the _Kazekage_, for crying out loud! How was he being held back so _easily_ by a pair of _chains_?.!

It just showed how much he relied on his sand.

"Why?" Gaara looked up at Itachi as the Uchiha spoke, startled. Of course, it didn't show on his face, because he was _Gaara_.

The Kazekage gazed back at Itachi coolly, not answering the question. He didn't even know what the Akatsuki member was asking, so the chances of him replying were bordering on very, very slim.

"Are you not frightened?"

"Of?" Gaara inquired with a monotonous tone.

"Your death."

Gaara merely stared at Itachi before turning away and leaning back against the wall, his Kazekage robes itching his skin. He never did like those damn robes.

"I have done many things in my life." Gaara answered. "Killed many people with a smile on my face and the belief that my purpose on this Earth was to do just that."

"Was it not?" Itachi inquired, feeling the same way about his own life. Minus the smiling, of course. Uchihas didn't smile. They smirked on occasion, but they never smiled.

"A person of your level of insanity could not possibly understand the kind of regret I have for my past deeds." Gaara stated, levelling Itachi with an indifferent stare. "I will accept this death as punishment for my past crimes."

"I, little demon, am not insane." Itachi stated as he moved closer to Gaara and looked down at him, an aura of superiority surrounding him. "My clan was weak, and as such, I killed them. Had they been more powerful, their downfall would not have occurred. You, on the other hand, kill anyone and everyone you please."

"I always drew the line at family." Gaara stated indifferently. "I would threaten them, but I have never once harmed my siblings."

"Nor have I." A hint of a smirk began to form on Itachi's face, but it disappeared quickly.

"Your brother suffers due to your actions. My siblings do not." Gaara glared. "They fear me and try their best not to anger me, but they know I will not harm them. Your brother thinks of nothing but his revenge for what you have done to him and your clan. I would never do such a thing."

"Are you saying you have changed?" Itachi inquired. "Are you telling me that you do not still relish the feel of another's blood on your hands?"

"I cannot say it does not make me excited to kill someone with my own hands." Gaara agreed. "But I will not lose my mind as I have in the past. I know when to draw the line. _You_ do not."

"Because I tested my clan," Itachi glared, "because I wanted to see if they were _worthy_ of the name Uchiha, you think me insane and unable to know when to stop?"

"Yes." Gaara replied before turning away. "After all, in some ways, I have an excuse. I have a demon within me who hungers for blood. What is your excuse, Uchiha Itachi?"

"I do not have one." Itachi replied. "Then again, soon, neither will you."

Itachi turned and left the room, Gaara still seated on the floor.

The Kazekage stared down at his manacled hands with a scowl on his face, clenching his fists. Itachi was a monster without the luxury of blaming it on a demon. Gaara himself sometimes didn't know whether it was the demon or he himself who lusted after the taste of blood.

He supposed he would never find out.

**END.**

* * *

**A/N: Just to let everyone know, I have 29 requests as of right now. I only have 21 left. If you've only submitted one and would like another, you better hurry up. This challenge has only been out for one day, and I already have more than half of it filled.**


	3. What I Want

#2)  
Request by: Itachi4thewin  
Characters: Sasuke and Orochimaru.  
Situation: Sasuke is stronger than Orochimaru, and the only reasonhe is letting Orochimaru take over his body is because he (Sasuke) wants him to.  
Pairings: No pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: Again, Ryan has decided to torture me with a hard as all hell interpretation... But they're good ideas. This will be completely in Sasuke's POV... and kind of short... cause it hurt my brain...**

* * *

I used to wonder why Orochimaru said he was weaker than Itachi. I wondered how someone as powerful as him—immortal, as well—could _possibly_ be weaker than my aniki. 

After spending three years with him, I've figured it out. Orochimaru may know thousands of jutsus and be strong, but he is not the best at executing what he knows. And to top it off, he's horrible at Genjutsu. He can't identify it, nor can he perform it expertly. It's no wonder my aniki is stronger than him.

Then again, Orochimaru _does_ have his own strengths. There's not a doubt in my mind that I'm stronger than he is, but what he lacks in strength he makes up for in knowledge. That is why I think he is the perfect partner for me. With the two of us together, we will be able to defeat Itachi.

That is why all those years ago I told Naruto I would come to Orochimaru. I knew what he had planned for me. I knew that eventually, he would take over my body and I would only exist in some far recess of my mind. Never in control. Never able to live again. But it will be worth it.

For me to be able to see my brother's last, dying breath through my own eyes, even if Orochimaru is in control, is _worth_ it. To see him suffer at my hand, even if I am not the one controlling it, is _worth_ it!

If for no other reason than to defeat Itachi, I will give up everything I have, everything I _am_. I've already betrayed my village and attempted to kill my best friend. There is nothing left for me, now, except my revenge. I know I am not powerful enough alone. I know there is no chance for me to defeat Itachi as I am now. No matter how strong I am, he will _always_ be stronger.

With Orochimaru aiding me, I can and _will_ defeat my aniki. By mixing my power, speed and bloodline limit with Orochimaru's knowledge of jutsus, I _can_ defeat Itachi.

Though, I admit, sometimes I find myself worrying about my current sensei. For someone with so much power, he fails to impress me. His curse seal gave me the power I now possess, this is true, but he only gave me the seal. My own thirst for power is what activated the seal and enabled me to grow in power and strength.

But, I need Orochimaru. I need him to teach me. I need him to take over my body. I _need_ him.

Because without him, I can never even hope to defeat Itachi.

And I _will_ kill you, aniki.

**END.**


	4. Camping

#3)  
Request by: trinityXomega  
Characters: All seven.  
Situation: They all go on a camping trip and chaos/craziness ensues.  
Pairings: No pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: My good friend Nita... Not very much to go on, but it was fun to do :) **

* * *

"Well, here we are." Uzumaki Naruto said as he threw his camping gear to the ground and looked around the large clearing. "The best area of the forest." 

"Finally." Inuzuka Kiba fell to the ground, bag, gear and all, lying on his back. He looked a little weird because his pack was making his torso stick up while the rest of him was flat on the ground. Akamaru jumped through the trees and landed beside him, wagging his tail excitedly.

"You are in the way, Inuzuka." Hyuuga Neji stated as he stepped over the fallen boy, Sabaku no Gaara walking right on him. Kiba let out a loud 'oof', which the Sand nin ignored.

"Yosh!" Rock Lee exclaimed as he practically pranced into the clearing. "Are you all not excited that we are sharing the height of our youth together?.!"

"Shut up, Lee." Uchiha Sasuke snapped as he, too, stepped on Kiba before continuing on.

"Ow!" Kiba sat up, rubbing his poor stomach. "You guys suck!"

"So troublesome." Nara Shikamaru muttered as he dropped his bag in the centre of the clearing and fell onto his back to stare at the sky. "You can see the clouds really well here, though. Good choice, Naruto."

"Spank you." The blond grinned as he rubbed his nose. "I used to come here all the time."

"Less Naruto, more setting up." Sasuke snapped as he began pulling things out of his bag.

"Teme!" Naruto hollered, waving one fist at Sasuke. "You're such a bastard!"

"He is right." Neji insisted, his tent already almost complete. "We have to set up and get food before nightfall."

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto grumbled as he began to set up.

"Hurry, Naruto-kun!" Lee exclaimed as he set his own tent up beside Naruto's. "If you finish before I do, I shall fetch all of us dinner within five minutes while running on my hands!"

"You do that." Naruto grumbled before looking over at Shikamaru, who hadn't moved. "Oi, Shikamaru. Are you going to set up your tent?"

"Maybe." The lazy Chuunin replied, still lying on his back with both hands behind his head. "When I feel like it."

"You're just lazy." Kiba smirked, Akamaru letting out a bark of agreement.

A few minutes later, the seven tents had been erected in the clearing—Kiba and Naruto having put up Shikamaru's while the lazy nin just stared at the drifting clouds.

"It must be some kind of requirement to be a Chuunin or Jounin." Kiba muttered. "'Must be lazy'."

"Iruka-sensei isn't lazy." Naruto insisted.

"True." Kiba agreed.

"Oi, dobe."

"Sasuke-teme!" Naruto hollered back immediately, turning to the raven and waving his fist angrily. "Don't call me dobe."

"Fine, usuratonkachi. Come on, let's get some food." The Uchiha turned and walked into the trees, his hands tucked into the pockets of his shorts. Naruto grumbled as he ran off after him, knowing the only reason Sasuke wanted him to come was so he didn't have to get wet. Then again, Naruto had always been better at fishing because of his_kage bunshin no justu_.

* * *

An hour later found all of them around a campfire, cooking some fish. A few of them were chatting amiably with one another, Kiba and Naruto getting rowdy over in their corner while Sasuke, Neji and Gaara brooded, as was their wont. Lee was trying to engage a lazy Shikamaru in conversation, but the Chuunin just ignored him. 

"Hey, how about we tell ghost stories?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"No." Gaara replied.

"Why not?" The blond pouted.

"Hn, dobe." Sasuke muttered.

"Stop calling me dobe, teme!" Naruto hollered angrily. "What's wrong with telling ghost stories?.!"

"We all know you will be the one frightened the most." Neji stated.

"It's true, Naruto." Shikamaru sighed. "You're so troublesome."

"I _won't_ get scared!" Naruto insisted with a glare.

"Are you sure?" He turned to Gaara and paled slightly at the look on the redhead's face. "Because if you wake me up tonight due to some idiotic nightmare of yours, I shall crush you in your sleep."

Naruto laughed nervously, rubbing the back of his head. "So—anyone been on any good missions, lately?"

Sasuke snorted. "I'm stuck with you. How can I _possibly_ go on any good missions?"

"Teme!" Naruto hollered. "Why do you always pick on me?.!" He stood up, motioning himself and Sasuke. "That's it, you and me! Right here, right now!"

"How troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as Lee pumped his fists in the air.

"Yosh! A rivalry mirroring Gai-sensei and Kakashi-san's! Neji, we must also fight!"

"No." the Hyuuga replied, bored.

"Come on, teme! Get up!" Naruto hollered. "Unless you're too _afraid_."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed. "Of you? Don't be ridiculous. Besides, we all know you can't fight on an empty stomach."

"Fine! I'll eat, and _then _we'll fight!" Naruto insisted as he sat back down.

"Eat what? Fish-a-la-flame?" Sasuke teased.

Naruto frowned before looking down at the stick that held his fish. He let out a cry as he grabbed it, pulling it out of the fire. The fish was a crisp black, flames still lit on its charred surface.

"Looks like you're having burnt fish for dinner." Sasuke smirked.

"Teme! It's all your fault! You did it on purpose!" Naruto hollered as he waved his burning fish around.

"Watch it!" Kiba exclaimed, but he was too late. The fish had flown from the end of the stick and landed on the closest tent—Gaara's tent.

Immediately, the plastic covering began to burn, the fire spreading quickly to the other tents, due to their close proximity.

"Dammit, dobe!" Sasuke hollered as they all rushed to the river to get some water. "We can't take you anywhere!"

"Don't call me _dobe_!"

As the shinobi all ran towards the river to grab water, Gaara calmly pulled the stopper out of his gourd and the sand began to trickle out, covering the fire. Gaara held out both hands before closing them into fists.

"_Sabaku Taiso_."

The entire campsite was crushed in an instant due to Gaara's jutsu; the others were running back towards the fire with some water. Upon reaching the site and seeing, not only the fire extinguished, but their entire campsite destroyed, they all deflated.

"Sand shinobi." Shikamaru muttered as he let the water he'd brought fall to the ground. "So troublesome."

"So much for camping." Kiba muttered as he and Akamaru headed back towards the trees. "I'm going home."

**END.**


	5. Rejection

#4)  
Request by: dittogrrl  
Characters: Sakura and Sasuke  
Situation: Sakura asking Sasuke to go out on a date and him rejecting her because she's weak, useless, and pink.  
Pairings: No pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: First fic written for someone I don't know personally. I hope you like it, and I hope it's up to your standards :smiles: **

**And just FYI to everyone, if you've sent me a request, I _have_ recorded it. I will get to it, but I'm doing them based on who sent me a request first. First come first serve, I'm not jumping people. (My muse is number 25. I'm not jumping her to the head of the line, cause it's not fair, and I am a fair person). If you would like to know what number you are, just PM me and I'll let you know. Thanks :smiles:**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke walked leisurely down the crowded streets of Konoha, headed for the market in order to get something for dinner. He hadn't felt like leaving his home, but after checking his fridge, checking his cupboards, and checking his fridge again, it became impossible for him _not_ to go out and get food. So, there he was, walking down the crowded streets of Konoha. 

The young Uchiha would never know someone had spotted him, and was going to make his long walk to the market seem even _longer_.

Haruno Sakura hid behind one of the small buildings, peeking around the corner to regard the approaching Uchiha before pulling back and giggling into her hands. _All right, Haruno, today's the day. Sasuke-kun is going to get food. All you have to do is get him to agree to have dinner with you. Right? Right._

She began giggling again before looking around the corner for the twenty-third time. He was closer. Time for her to act.

For his part, Sasuke felt a distinct shiver run up his spine, and the second he identified it as a "fangirl warning", it was too late.

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura attached herself to Sasuke's arm, and the raven knew no amount of flailing would make her let go. "Where are you going? Are you going to the market for food?"

Sasuke decided not to answer. If he ignored her enough, maybe she'd go away. Then again, she never had before.

"I have extra food at home, Sasuke-kun. I cooked a lot for dinner, _way_ more than I can eat by myself, and my parents are out. Why don't you come over?"

"No." he snapped.

"Aw, Sasuke-kun, are you embarrassed to go into a girl's home?" Sakura giggled. "Don't worry, I won't bite."

_Liar,_ the raven thought bitterly as he continued walking. He noticed some of his _other_ fangirls watching the two of them enviously and he shuddered. They probably thought he and Sakura were on a date. He would've dislodged her if he could, but he'd learned from past experience that neither Sakura _nor_ Ino could be removed from his arm when they attached themselves to it. It was just _not_ possible.

"I'm perfectly content with eating alone, thank you." he ground out as they reached the market and he began looking at the stalls for something he could eat for dinner.

"Mou, Sasuke-kun is always so cold." Sakura pouted. "Well, if you don't want to eat dinner with me, would you be willing to train with me tomorrow? I want to improve my kunai-throwing."

"Then talk to Kakashi-sensei." he stated as he picked up a tomato before putting it back down. "I have better things to do with my time."

"But that perverted Jounin won't help me." Sakura insisted. "He'll just sit there and read his perverted book." She scowled angrily, as if picturing Kakashi waving his hand at her, telling her she was doing fine when he hadn't even raised his visible eye from his book.

"Then have Naruto help you." Sasuke snapped, startling a woman standing on his other side who was looking at the celery. She moved away quickly. Sasuke didn't care.

"Naruto?" Sakura began to laugh. "That idiot wouldn't know how to throw a kunai if his life _depended _on it!"

"This coming from you?" Sasuke turned to her, his eyes narrowed.

Sakura winced, those words cutting deep, but she covered her hurt with a brilliant smile. "Oh, come on, Sasuke-kun. Let's do something together, it'll be fun!"

"Sakura, I want you to listen very carefully." Sasuke said in a low, dangerous voice. "I don't like you, nor have I ever liked you, nor _will_ I ever like you." He turned to her angrily, the Sharingan unwillingly activating. "You're loud, annoying, and weak! You rival Naruto in uselessness, and you're about as attractive as Chouji! And to top it all off, I don't. Like. _Pink_!"

Sakura's eyes widened as tears welled in her eyes.

_Shannaro!_ Inner Sakura hollered, punching her fists at the air. _That was harsh, you bastard!_

"You—don't like... pink?" Sakura whispered aloud, her hold on Sasuke's arm loosening.

"No, I don't like pink. Now, leave me alone."

Sasuke pulled free from her slack grip and wandered off, his hands shoved deep in his pockets and a relieved sigh emitting from between his lips.

Sakura, however, wasn't deterred. If anything, she was even _more_ determined. _Sasuke-kun doesn't like pink? Then I'll **make** him like pink!_

And so, grinning evilly, the pink-haired Genin made her way home, already planning her next attack on the poor, unsuspecting Uchiha.

**END.**


	6. Basic Trap

#5)  
Requested by: Shamera  
Characters: Neji, Naruto, Kiba and Shikamaru.  
Situation: The four of them are on a mission to rescue a rich leaf noble when Naruto and Neji fall into a trap. They get stuck together and must remain that way until Kiba and Shikamaru return with help.  
Pairings: NejiNaru.

* * *

**A/N: I am not a NejiNaru fan, but I tried my best to make is satisfactory, so I hope you like it :smiles:**

* * *

"Stupid." Jounin Uzumaki Naruto jumped off the tree branch. "Moron." He landed and jumped off the next one. "Getting." Again, he jumped. "Caught." 

"Enough with the bitching, Naruto." Inuzuka Kiba growled as he kept up with the blond. "We're _all_ annoyed that the stupid noble didn't listen to us and wandered off on his own, but stop _giving away our position_!"

"You, Inuzuka, are hardly one to talk." Hyuuga Neji's smooth voice cut in from Kiba's left. "At least Uzumaki is merely grumbling. You, on the other hand, have been yelling at him to be quiet."

"You're all so troublesome." Nara Shikamaru muttered as he kept up with them all half-heartedly. He wasn't cut out for these kinds of missions, yet that stupid woman kept sending him on them. "Let's hurry up so we can go home."

"Yeah, yeah, quit your whining." Kiba grumbled as he jumped off a branch. "If anyone should be complaining here, it's me. I couldn't even bring Akamaru along, dammit!"

"You get overexcited when he is with you." Neji stated calmly. "You would be twice as loud as you currently are."

Kiba fought back the insatiable urge to stick his tongue out at the Hyuuga. He didn't do it, but only because he knew Neji would be able to see him. Him and his _stupid_ 360-degree vision. After all, Kiba didn't know Neji had a blind spot, and even if he _had_ known, there was no way in _hell_ he would actually _find_ it!

They continued on in silence for a few minutes before Neji deemed it a fitting time to activate his Byakugan. It took him only a split second to notice the trap—and the person headed right for it.

"Naruto, look out!"

The blond turned slowly to look at Neji, the Hyuuga noticing he was just about to spring the trap. He launched himself at Naruto, trying to stop him from triggering it, but he was too late. Next thing he knew, he and Naruto were flying through the air towards a tree-trunk, smashing into it painfully. Of course, Naruto took the brunt of the force, having smashed into it with his back, Neji plastered to his front, their chests pressed together and their legs tangled. And behind Neji, circling around the tree and holding them up in mid-air, was a chakra net.

"Well." Naruto cleared his throat as a tinge of pink made its way onto his cheeks at the close proximity between himself and the Hyuuga. "This is awkward."

Neji concurred full-heartedly.

"Dammit, Naruto." Shikamaru sighed, annoyed. "Always getting into trouble. _Always_."

"Sorry." the blond muttered, turning his face away slightly. Neji was suddenly given full access to Naruto's neck, and it took more self-control than he knew he possessed not to bend forward and taste that tanned skin.

"All right, here's what we'll do." Shikamaru said, Neji turning his head slightly to look behind himself at the other Jounin. "Kiba, you continue after the noble. I'll head back to get help."

"Wait a second!" Naruto hollered—right into Neji's ear. "You're just gonna _leave_ us here?.!"

"Yes." Shikamaru replied evenly. "You're Jounin, you can take care of yourselves until I get back. Just stay quiet, and no one will find you."

"But then how will _you_ find us?" Naruto demanded.

"Just stay quiet." Shikamaru sighed as he turned to leave. "Honestly, so troublesome."

"Have fun." Kiba grinned as he disappeared through the trees, leaving Naruto and Neji alone.

* * *

Naruto shifted uncomfortably, Neji clearing his throat. This was awkward. Really, _really_ awkward. Not only was Neji stuck pressed up against his only true object of lust and affection—but he was pressed up _chest to chest_ with said object of lust and affection. 

Things were _not_ going well for Hyuuga Neji. Especially when Naruto kept _shifting_ and _rubbing _his _damn thigh _against Neji's _**groin**_!

"Can you please refrain from moving?" Neji asked, trying to force his blush down. "You're making me uncomfortable."

"Sorry, Neji." Naruto winced. "I'm uncomfortable, myself. It's hard to _be_ comfortable when you're hanging in the air, trapped in a net, pressed up against another _guy_. Especially if he's you."

Neji's eyes narrowed dangerously. "And what, pray tell, is _wrong_ with me, Uzumaki?"

Naruto's eyes widened. "Did I say that out loud?"

"Yes, you did." Neji spat.

"I-I didn't mean—it's not what it sounds like." Naruto blurted out.

"Then what _exactly_ does it sound like?"

"I'm not telling." Naruto blushed, turning his face away from Neji's and pouting. The Hyuuga's eye twitched.

"You do not currently have the luxury of _not_ telling me." Neji snapped.

"Is that so?" Naruto turned to him challengingly. "And why's that?"

"Because in case you _haven't_ noticed, you are in no position to be disrespecting me."

"Oh?" Naruto sneered.

"I can hit every single one of your chakra pressure points."

Naruto's smug grin fell right off as his eyes widened and the colour drained from his face. "You wouldn't." he whispered fearfully.

"I would." Neji snapped.

"Mou, you're so mean, Neji." Naruto mumbled, looking away as the blush returned.

"So are you." Neji insisted. "Now _what_ is so bad about being trapped here with _me_?"

Naruto mumbled something under his breath and Neji frowned, straining to hear.

"What was that? Speak _louder_, Uzumaki."

"Ilikeyou." the blond mumbled hurriedly, his words running into each other as he clenched his eyes shut.

Now Neji had been ready for every answer imaginable. Every single one.

Except that one.

So, Neji did the one thing no Hyuuga had _ever_ done—not even Hinata. He stared with his mouth hanging open.

"Are you going to—kill me, now?" Naruto asked, his eyes still closed. "Cause this waiting is nerve-wracking."

"Did you just say—you _like_ me?" Neji asked, utterly amazed.

"Yeah, now get it over with!" Naruto exclaimed, flinching, even though he couldn't tell if something was going to happen or not since his eyes were _still_ closed.

Since Neji's hands were trapped—something Naruto _hadn't_ known—he nudged Naruto's chin with his nose, trying to get the other boy to face him. Cautiously, Naruto peeked open one eye before complying, turning to face Neji completely again.

"You don't look as mad as I thought you'd be." Naruto said with a frown. "In fact—you don't look mad at all."

"It's because I'm not mad." Neji said before brushing his lips tentatively against Naruto's. The blond let out a small gasp, but the Hyuuga wasn't done yet.

Carefully, Neji pressed his lips harder against Naruto's, excitement rising in his chest as the other boy responded positively to his advances. He pulled back slightly, resting his forehead against Naruto's, their hitai-ate's clanking as metal tapped metal.

"I like you, too."

"No talk, just kiss." Naruto insisted before capturing Neji's lips with his own once again.

* * *

Shikamaru trudged back through the trees with a sigh, Aburame Shino and Hyuuga Hinata waiting for him. 

"Well?" Shino inquired, asking the Jounin if Neji and Naruto were that way.

"I think we should come back in a few hours."

"A f-few h-h-hours?" Hinata stuttered. "B-but Neji-nii-san and N-Naruto-kun—"

"Are busy." Shikamaru sighed. "Let's go after the noble and pick them up on the way home."

"Very well." Shino said with no argument. Hinata just pressed her index fingers together before also nodding, the two of them going after Kiba to help him. Shikamaru let out a sigh before shaking his head.

"Those two are _so_ troublesome."

He followed the two Chuunin.

END.

* * *

**A/N: I'm sorry, but I don't know when the next batch of anything will be out because I am currently having personal issues. I will try not to let it affect my writing, but I am just letting you all know.**


	7. Sand In My Pants

#6)  
Requested by: Kylie-Chan  
Characters: Lee and Gaara  
Spoiler: YES! Including in the situation. If you haven't read the manga, don't read this one. I don't want to ruin it for you.  
Situation: Lee is visiting Gaara as a courtesy thing cause he's Kazekage. While there, Lee asks for a tour of Sand, which Gaara gives him personally.  
Pairings: GaaLee

**

* * *

A/N: This was pretty fun to write, mainly because Lee is insane, lol. Hope you enjoy :) **

* * *

"Gaara!" The Kazekage's hand halted in its movement as he looked up slowly, seeing a man clad in all green trudging towards him jovially. "It has been so long since I have seen you, my friend! You have done well for yourself, I see, though you have not kept in touch with Konoha's most handsome and radiant shinobi! Me!" 

Sabaku no Gaara's non-existent eyebrow twitched, but he put his pen down nevertheless and folded his hands together. "What can I do for you today, Lee?"

"Ah, how kind of you to ask!" Rock Lee exclaimed happily as he plopped down in one of the seats facing the Kazekage's desk. "I was returning home from a mission when I passed through Wind Country. I thought it would be kind of me to visit you while here, so I stopped in Sand!"

"Will you be staying long?" Gaara asked as he motioned his assistant over from across the room. The young girl walked towards them, smiling kindly at Lee.

"I was hoping that you, my friend, would allow me to stay for the night."

"Of course. Mitsuko."

"Yes, sir?" the young assistant smiled at the Kazekage.

"Please have the room beside mine made up for Rock Lee. He is a very important guest, and thus requires the utmost respect." He narrowed his eyes to ensure she understood.

"Of course, Kazekage-sama. Right away." She turned to smile at Lee again before exiting the room. Lee smiled at Gaara.

"Thank you ever so much. You are the kindest friend one could ask for during the height of their youth! However can I repay you?"

"It was nothing." Gaara reassured.

"I shall let you return to your duties, Kazekage-sama." Lee said as he stood up and bowed deeply, Gaara almost rolling his eyes. Lee had entered in a friendly manner and was _now_ being formal. What a strange guy.

"What are your plans for the remainder of the day, Lee?"

"I will tour the village!" Lee exclaimed, pumping both fists in the air. "And if I feel youthful and energetic enough, I shall jog around the village two hundred times before dinner!"

"Would you like me to give you the tour?" Gaara inquired. "I will not join you for your jog, but I would like to show you the village I have sworn to protect."

"Yosh!" Lee balled a fist, holding it up happily as tears streamed down his face. "Gai-sensei! Gaara, my old, dear friend has offered to give me a tour of his village! The village he would give his life to protect! Oh, youthful strength and love!"

Gaara merely stared at Lee, letting out a small sigh. To everyone on the planet, he'd merely exhaled, but to Gaara, it was a sigh.

He motioned for Lee to follow him and he told the ANBU stationed on the other side of the door that he would be out with Lee for the next few hours, and not to bother following them. He had his sand, after all. He had no need for extra protection.

As they made it outside, Gaara began to show Lee around the village, starting with a few of the clan residences before moving on to the more popular areas of Sand. Lee expressed enthusiasm and awe at everything he saw, wrapping his arms around Gaara more than once to show how much he admired and loved the Kazekage for protecting his people. Every time anyone saw the green-clad young man _hugging_ Sabaku no Gaara, they froze and paled slightly, certain it would lead to nothing other than his death. Upon realizing Lee was in no danger, they wandered off, confused.

It was when they were nearing the end of the tour, and the sun was setting and hitting Lee _just right_ that Gaara found it impossible to resist.

Every since he'd first met the rambunctious student from Konoha, he'd been smitten—of course, he hadn't known it at the time, because he'd never felt those kinds of feelings before. He'd mistaken the tugging in his heart for hate, and had thus tried to _kill_ Lee. Only later did he realize what the tugging was. Not hate, but love.

And so, on that day, as the setting sun cast rays of disappearing light on Lee's black hair, the boy continuing to talk excitedly, Gaara couldn't help it. He leaned over when the boy turned to speak to him some more, and pressed his lips gently against Lee's.

The other boy froze, not that Gaara had really known what to expect. Since he was met with no resistance, he opened his mouth slightly and ran his tongue over Lee's bottom lip before retreating. He'd just wanted a taste. Just _one_ taste. It was all he asked for.

The two of them stood still in the setting sun, one confused and blushing, the other hoping not to be rejected too harshly.

"W-w-would you l-like to see my d-drunken f-fist?" Lee stuttered, completely unsure as to how he should react.

That reaction was good enough for Gaara, who let a small smile form on his lips. "I would love to."

Gaara led the way to the closest bar.

**END.**

* * *

**A/N: Sorry, guys. I had this one ready yesterday, but fanfiction dot net wasn't letting me upload it into the documents sections. It still won't let me, I had to erase another file I had in documents and use that one. I have up to number eight done, so I'm sorry if I can't get them out, but the site won't let me. :cries: Sorry. I'll try and see if I can erase more of the documents, but some of them I don't actually have on file so I'll have to be careful. Sorry again. :sweat:**


	8. Drunken Nights and Made Up Jutsus

#7)  
Requested by: Fantomhorse  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto (a little bit of Jiraiya and Sakura–not as a couple, gross!)  
Situation: Sasuke and Naruto are at a bar and Sasuke gets drunk while Naruto uses his sexy-no-jutsu. Sasuke starts hitting on the female form of Naruto and the blond just plays along. The next morning, Sasuke realizes what happened and chaos ensues.  
Pairings: Uh... SasuNaru? I guess... Sorta…

**

* * *

A/N: For my wonderful friend Britt. Naruto in female form will be referred to as Naruko, as I often see him being called that when in female form. Just to clarify. **

* * *

Admittedly, when Uchiha Sasuke found himself at the bar that night, it wasn't what he'd been planning to do. Sasuke _never_ went to the bar. He had a routine, and he followed it religiously. 

He woke up, he went on missions—if his pervert of a sensei had any—he trained, ate dinner, trained some more, showered, and then went to bed.

But tonight, for some reason, he'd been dragged out to a bar. "Socializing", the blond had called it. What did that idiot know, anyway? Uzumaki Naruto was a moron. A complete and utter _moron_. _How_ he even knew such a big word like "socializing" was beyond the Uchiha's comprehension.

Then again, at least the idiot was good for _something_. After all, _he_ was the one paying for all the drinks Sasuke was guzzling down. The sake, the beer, the vodka—mixing drinks being a bad idea, but what the heck. Sasuke would only be young once, and what was a few hangovers between close friends, anyway?

Of course, this would mean _admitting_ he was close friends with Naruto, and no one would ever hear him openly admit that. They could try their best to drag it out of him, but Uchiha Sasuke was a steel trap! Nothing was coming out of _his_ mouth!

"Y'kno, Naruto." the raven slurred, turning to his teammate and clapping him on the shoulder. "Yer my bes' frend."

"Thanks." Naruto grinned at him. "You're mine, too, Sasuke. You're still a bastard, though."

"Hn." Sasuke grunted.

Damn. Well, there went _that_ plan of not admitting it. Whatever.

Sasuke downed the sake sitting in front of him before letting out a loud, unattractive burp. Naruto stared at him, stunned. He'd never seen the Uchiha act this way and he grinned as he realized that, shit, there really _was_ a human in there.

"Hey, Naruto." The blond turned as Jiraiya walked up to him, leaning close to whisper. "I'll give you enough money for a week's worth of ramen if you do _that_ jutsu for me."

"Deal!" The Chuunin grinned, snatching the money from the perverted Sannin's hand. He tucked it safely away in his pocket before performing the seal, not even having to say the jutsu aloud anymore.

Jiraiya grinned and laughed impatiently as a cloud of smoke surrounded Naruto before his jaw dropped as it cleared.

Naruko was sitting peacefully in her chair, her blond hair up in pigtails, as usual, and a Chuunin uniform hiding her feminine body.

"That's not fair!" The Sannin hollered. "You know I meant naked!"

"Then you should have specified, Ero-Sennin." Naruko said sweetly in her velvety voice.

"Cut the bullshit and let me see you naked!"

"All right, sir, let's go." Two Jounins grabbed Jiraiya's arms and dragged him towards the door. "You've had enough if you're harassing young girls."

"No! You don't understand!" Jiraiya struggled. "Do you know who I am?.!"

Naruko just smirked and waved at Jiraiya before chuckling and turning to grab her drink. She was just about to dispel the jutsu when she noticed Sasuke was staring at her.

"Wuzn't my bes' frend sitting there?" Sasuke slurred, motioning the seat Naruko occupied.

_He doesn't know it's me, he's too drunk. He thinks I'm just some chick!_ Naruto grinned to himself. This could be fun.

"Oh, he just went to the bathroom." Naruko replied with a kind smile. "He asked me to keep you company until he got back."

"Yer pretty." Sasuke blurted out, Naruko's head snapping back at the unexpected compliment. "You look a bit like 'im. Blonde hair'n blue eyes." He leaned in closer to Naruko. "Dun tell 'im, but I'm jealous of his looks."

"Thank you." Naruko smiled, laughing hysterically inwardly. "That's very kind of you to say."

"I like you." Sasuke slurred, Naruko raising an eyebrow.

"You don't know me."

"Bu' yer pretty. 'N nice. 'N I'm Uchiha Sasuke. No one says no to Uchiha Sasuke."

Naruko was threatening to burst her internal organs from trying not to laugh. She applauded her self-control. She had to admit, she didn't know she'd be able to hold out this long.

Just when she was about to drop the act, Sasuke leaned over and planted a sloppy kiss on her lips. Naruko's eyes went wide as she found herself kissing Uchiha Sasuke for the _second_ time in her life.

Her first thoughts were: _Ew! Get him off! Why is he **kissing** me?.! What's going on?.!_

And then, she considered the possibilities. Here was a drunk Sasuke, kissing _Naruko_, his archrival. True, his archrival in girl-form, but his archrival nonetheless. It still counted. She could hold this over the Uchiha's head for the rest of the bastard's miserable life!

_God, he sucks, though,_ Naruko thought, wrinkling her nose and pulling away. Sasuke followed her lips, but she put one hand on his chest, pushing him away.

"Easy, tiger." _Tiger?.! Where the fuck did I get **that** from?.!_ Naruko thought.

"Don't wanna be easy." Sasuke insisted as he grabbed Naruko's face and planted his lips on hers again. She just kept repeating that this would be worth it in the end. Oh, the fun she would have tomorrow.

* * *

"Sasuke-kun!" Sakura hollered, the Uchiha wincing and clutching his head. 

"Not so _loud_, Sakura." he snapped as he made his way towards the pink-haired girl.

"I heard you got drunk last night and left the bar with some girl." Sakura said teasingly, although Sasuke could tell she was ready to explode with anger.

"Can you tell me anything about her?" Sasuke inquired. "I don't really remember much of what happened last night." the Uchiha grumbled.

"Um, I don't know much. I know she had blond hair and blue eyes, and that Jiraiya was hollering at her to get naked and that he got ripped off." Sakura shrugged.

_Jiraiya asking her to get naked and feeling ripped off?_ Sasuke thought, confused. Why did that sound familiar? _Blond hair and blue eyes?_

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto hollered annoyingly loud, just like every other day. The idiot was lucky he was Sasuke's best friend, otherwise, the three of them wouldn't train together anymore. Especially now that they were Chuunin.

_Wait a second,_ Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched Naruto coming towards him and Sakura. _Blond hair, blue eyes, get naked and ripped off._

"You _bastard_!" Sasuke hollered, pointing an accusing finger at Naruto while walking towards him. The blond slowed, lowering his waving hand before finally coming to a stop. "You tricked me! I—oh my God! Naruto, I _kissed_ you! I'm gonna _kill _you!"

Sasuke bolted for Naruto, the other Chuunin screaming before turning on his heel and running away.

"It was just a joke! I'm sorry! _Sasuke, put the kunai away_!"

"Sasuke, don't use Chidori on him! Sasuke!"

**END.**

* * *

**A/N: The documents _still_ won't let me upload, so I can only upload this one and number eight, and then I won't be able to give you guys any more until this gets fixed. Sorry for the inconvenience... And is this happening to anyone else? Cause it's seriously annoying.**


	9. Nukenins

#8)  
Requested by: Shadow of Archon  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto.  
Situation: Both are S-class Missing Nins and they battle to the death to see who is stronger, and also to prove which of the two goals was false.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: This was very challenging to write, but I quite enjoyed doing it. :smiles: I hope you like it, and just to let you know, I didn't use any of Sasuke's jutsus that are shown in the manga, because I didn't want to have to put a spoiler warning. Also, I didn't think he'd have enough power to do them without the curse seal, and as you'll see—he doesn't have it anymore. :smiles: Anyway, sorry, I'm babbling. Hope you like it! **

* * *

The sound of two kunais clashing echoed through the trees as their wielders jumped apart, each landing on a tree branch opposite each other. One of them landed steadily, easily. The other almost stumbled from the force of being pushed away, but he regained his balance quickly, glaring at the blond man who stood in front of him. 

"You never change, do you, Sasuke?" The S-class nukenin before him smirked, twirling the kunai between his fingers. "You always _did_ bite off more than you could chew."

The raven-haired nukenin by the name of Uchiha Sasuke spat, blood mixed in with his saliva as it fell to the forest floor far below him. He growled at the person who used to be his best friend and worst enemy at the same time.

"Naruto." he hissed.

Uzumaki Naruto just smirked, the look foreign on his face. Ever since he'd been brutally beaten by a group of villagers, the boy had changed from wanting to be Hokage—to being a murderer. He couldn't take it anymore, and in one night, he wiped out half the ninja population in Konohagakure. Now, because he's a Jinchuuriki, he is the highest of the S-class nukenins. Sasuke himself is just a low-class nukenin, not even entering the Bingo books because he's so minor compared to Naruto.

Many people went to Naruto, asking the blond to join them, but he always declined. He was a lone ninja. He could do everything himself, so he did. And he did it _well_. Sasuke, on the other hand, had lost much of his previous strength when Orochimaru was killed by the leaf, and his curse seal had disappeared. Without the added power it gave him, Sasuke was on a level similar to that of Kakashi—and Naruto had killed Kakashi in three seconds flat.

"Nice scar you've got there." Naruto smirked, motioning Sasuke's face with his free hand, the other still twirling his kunai.

Sasuke fingered the deep scar that ran down the side of his face, starting at his left temple and moving down to his jaw. "A gift from our former sensei. You killed him, didn't you?"

"He was one of the first." Naruto smirked. "Went down easily. Sakura was the weakest. I'd say the old hag was the only one to give me much of a challenge." A spark of insanity entered Naruto's eye and he stopped twirling the kunai. Sasuke noticed his hand was shaking, but he was pretty sure it wasn't out of fear.

The two of them—even after all these years—had never gotten over their desire to fight one another. It was just chance that had made them meet on that fateful road in the forest, leading them to start their battle once more. How many times had Sasuke fought against Naruto? He'd lost count. Something always interrupted them before the fight ended, though. This time, Sasuke was planning on finishing it. He wasn't leaving—no matter _what_—until he was holding Uzumaki Naruto's still-beating heart in his bare hand.

Lunging at Naruto, Sasuke threw a bunch of shuriken as he tightened his hold around the kunai in his other hand. A surge of red chakra appeared around Naruto, covering all of his flesh like some kind of shield. The shuriken bounced harmlessly off him and the blond's grin widened as he saw Sasuke coming right for him. Oh, the fun he would have.

Naruto pulled out a few more kunai and threw them at Sasuke, hitting him in various spots on his body. A few seconds after the impact, Sasuke was surrounded by smoke and a log appeared, Naruto's kunai imbedded in it. _Hm, Kawarimi no jutsu, huh? So, where are you, then?_

Naruto looked around slowly, not concerned in the slightest. Sasuke was weak compared to him, so what did _he_ care? The truth: he didn't.

The Uchiha appeared behind him, throwing a kunai right at the back of his head. He let out a pleased smirk as it smashed into the back of the blond's skull, blood erupting from the wound and dying his blond hair red. Sharingan eyes widened as the figure turned to smoke on its way to the ground, Sasuke landing on the branch it had just been on.

_Dammit! Kage Bunshin no jutsu! How did I forget the fact that it's his favourite jutsu?.!_ he thought as he looked around frantically. _Where did he go? Behind me? Below?_

"Looking for something?" Sasuke froze as all the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. Slowly, he turned his head and came face to face with red eyes, madness brimming just beneath the surface.

Sasuke jumped back, landing on another tree branch and watching as Naruto righted himself from his upside down position, smirking evilly at him. Sasuke growled, annoyed that Naruto was so good now, when he'd been a dobe for almost the entire time Sasuke had known him. The second the blond had snapped in the village, he'd become a completely different person.

He was powerful; dangerous. He was everything Sasuke had hoped to be, and more. The Uchiha wouldn't deny it: he was jealous of who Naruto had become.

"Don't get overconfident. You're still a dobe." Sasuke sneered.

"Am I, now?" Naruto inquired as he sat down on the branch, his feet dangling beneath him. Sasuke's eye twitched at the casual posture the other man held, as if he wasn't at all concerned that the Uchiha was trying to kill him.

Growling, Sasuke decided he would make him regret it. Channelling chakra into his hand, he gritted his teeth against the burning sensation that surrounded it as loud chirping could be heard. Chidori. He would ensure it was the last thing Naruto ever saw.

Lunging, he let out an angered cry as he aimed for Naruto's heart, the blond merely watching him approach with an amused smirk. But when Sasuke slammed his fist down, it smashed through the tree-branch, sending it crashing to the forest ground below as he flipped towards another one, staring at the fallen branch.

_What the—where did he move to so quickly?_ Sasuke thought, confused.

"You never learned it, did you?" Sasuke didn't turn around, but he knew Naruto was close. "_Shunshin no Jutsu_. Body Flicker. Kakashi taught it to me back when I was a good little demon." Naruto laughed. It was deep and throaty. It didn't suit him. "Isn't it kind of ironic that I used this jutsu when I killed him?"

"You're very proud of all the people you've taken down, aren't you?" Sasuke spat bitterly, his back still to the blond.

"Oh, you have no idea. I've taken down more people than you know."

Sasuke growled. He wasn't interested in hearing Naruto talk. He just wanted to kill him. So, he spun around, but didn't make a move to go to Naruto. For once, he would make the other come to him.

Naruto, upon seeing that Sasuke wasn't moving, dusted the front of his pants before calmly preparing himself to lunge. The raven smirked before readying himself. The second Naruto's foot left the branch, Sasuke threw shuriken at him, but instead of aiming _for_ him, he aimed around him. The shuriken twisted and turned perfectly around the demon vessel before Naruto frowned. Sasuke smirked as he caught the shuriken, twine attached to them. He yanked, hard, and Naruto flew through the air before being wrapped around the tree-trunk of a neighbouring tree. Sasuke ensured the twine was tied tightly before he let it go and held one hand out, chakra beginning to burn his skin again as he summoned the Chidori for a second time.

He rushed at Naruto and just as he was about to slam his fist into the blond's chest, Naruto's hand shot out and he broke Sasuke's wrist in much the same manner Itachi had years ago. Sasuke let out a cry as he lost his balance, falling to the forest floor below. The air rushed out of his lungs as he landed and he gasped, tears springing to his eyes from the pain jolting up his arm. Naruto landed easily beside him in a crouch, cocking his head at the Uchiha before grinning. He grabbed the front of the raven's high-collared shirt and lifted him easily off the ground, slamming him against a tree.

"No interruptions this time, huh, Sasuke?" Naruto smirked as he held the Uchiha in place with one hand, the other held out beside him and red chakra forming a ball in his hand.

Sasuke tried to struggle, but every move he made caused pain to shoot up his arm _and_ spine. He must've injured himself more than he thought with the fall. But he wouldn't let it end like this, dammit!

Naruto ducked Sasuke's weak attempt at knocking him away and slammed the ball of chakra into Sasuke's stomach, the raven still pressed up against the tree.

The Uchiha let out a scream as Rasengan dug deep into his flesh, pushing Naruto away with his uninjured hand as the other hung uselessly at his side. Naruto just laughed maniacally at Sasuke's pain, yelling at him to be heard over the other man's screaming.

"You think you can defeat me, _Sasuke_?.! I killed Itachi in a matter of _seconds_! You're _weaker_ than him, yet you think yourself powerful enough to defeat _me_?.!"

Sasuke's screaming went up a notch as Naruto dug deeper into the Uchiha's flesh with his ball of chakra. The raven started seizing, the intense pain making it hard for him to control his body. Naruto watched enthusiastically, pleased with himself for being the one to finish off the Uchiha clan. He'd killed Itachi, and now, he was killing Sasuke.

When the raven stopped screaming and went limp against Naruto's arm, Sasuke's head falling onto his shoulder, the blond dispersed the chakra and pulled his hand back. The Uchiha fell to the ground and Naruto looked down at him dispassionately before bending down to wipe his bloodied hand on Sasuke's shirt. Why ruin his own with that worm's blood?

And then, Naruto stepped over the body and walked back towards the path that led out of the forest, leaving the Uchiha to be eaten by wild animals and insects, just as the bastard deserved.

**END.**

* * *

**A/N: I kind of used the idea of Naruto going crazy and not being Hokage as his failed goal, and Sasuke not being able to kill Itachi before Naruto got him as being Sasuke's failed goal. I hope that's okay with you, Shadow of Archon. :sweat:**

**And now, no more until fanfiction dot net fixes whatever is wrong with their system. I've run out of documents to paste over. I'll see you all when it's fixed.**


	10. Hold Your Hand

#9)  
Requested by: SimplyTurquoise  
Characters: young Naruto and Kakashi  
Situation: Their first meeting. They didn't meet in the classroom for the first time, Naruto was just too young to remember their first meeting.  
Requirement: Piggyback.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**A/N: I had a lot of fun with this one, so I hope you like it :) And fanfiction dot net is working again, thank God!**

* * *

Hatake Kakashi would never know what had compelled him to approach the crying boy who was no older than five. After all, what was he to say? He wasn't too good with kids, and this was easily seen based on the fact that he'd never once had a Genin team. 

Maybe it was how physically and mentally hurt the boy looked. Maybe it was the way all the other villagers were just walking around him. But no. Deep down, it was because he knew who this child was, and demon or not, no one had the right to treat him like this.

"Hey." The blond boy—whose name he knew to be Uzumaki Naruto—looked up at him. Kakashi smiled, although the boy couldn't tell since he was wearing his mask, but his one visible eye curved happily.

"Hi." Naruto replied uncertainly, wiping the back of his hand across his nose.

Kakashi bent down to look at the reason Naruto was crying. The front of his pants were ripped and Kakashi could clearly see the skinned knee. Any other five year old would've had their mother almost panicking. Instead, this boy was just ignored. Kakashi frowned angrily. That wasn't right.

"That looks like a nasty scratch, there. Did you fall down?" Kakashi asked in as friendly a voice he could muster. Sniffing and running the back of his hand across his nose again, Naruto nodded. "Well that's not good, is it? We should get that cleaned up."

Kakashi helped Naruto stand, the boy hopping on one foot, as if worried putting weight on his injured leg would cause it to hurt more.

"Where do you live?"

Naruto hesitated. "I'm not supposed to talk to strangers." the boy said in a purely innocent tone. Kakashi had to smile.

"That there, Naruto, is sound advice. Who told you that?"

"Iruka-sensei." Naruto sniffed.

"Well, this Iruka-sensei is a smart man. My name is Kakashi."

"I'm Naruto." The boy smiled, completely having missed the fact that Kakashi had said his name not five seconds ago.

"Well, I'm pleased to meet you, Naruto. Now what Iruka-sensei said is very true, you _shouldn't_ talk to strangers. But now, you know my name, and I know yours. We're more like acquaintances, now."

"What's an in-can-tense?" Naruto asked with a frown. Kakashi just chuckled as he ruffled the blond hair.

"It's like almost-friends. I'll bring you home and patch up your knee, how does that sound?"

Naruto just smiled and nodded excitedly. Kakashi smiled back—again, unseen because of his mask. He turned around and motioned for the blond to jump on his back. Naruto let out a childish squeal—which would make sense, because he was, after all, a child—and climbed on, Kakashi looping his arms under the blond's legs.

The Jounin walked down the street with the young boy on his back. He received many shocked and confused looks, as well as a few glares, but he didn't care. Let the villagers think what they want, it wasn't any of his concern. Right now, there was a five year old with a skinned knee that needed to be comforted, and even if he didn't know _how_ to do that, he was going to learn, dammit!

He'd never gone out of his way to help Naruto, and after the scene he'd just seen, he felt bad. Those who ignored the demon vessel were just as bad as those who glared at him or cursed him. The child didn't even know _why_ he was hated, and Kakashi was disgusted with the fact that he hadn't made it a part of his life to care about the boy. He decided he would leave money in Naruto's mailbox every week until the blond grew up and made his own money.

Kakashi knew the Third Hokage kept him well off and provided him with everything he needed, but it wasn't like he could give him everything he _wanted_. Just what was necessary. Kakashi was willing to sacrifice some of his own money in order to let Naruto do what he wanted. (1) He would've considered visiting the boy instead of just giving him the money, but he was really no good with kids.

Kakashi prompted the boy for directions every once in a while, and he slowed down considerably as he realized that the reason Naruto sounded so dejected each time he gave them was because it meant his piggyback was going to end. Naruto wasn't heavy, so Kakashi could endure it for a little while longer.

Once they reached Naruto's apartment, Kakashi walked up the side wall instead of using the stairs, just to give Naruto a little bit of a ride before dropping him off. The blond got a real kick out of it, squealing loudly and asking if Kakashi had super-powers. The Jounin just laughed as he walked into Naruto's apartment through the open window in the living room.

"Why don't you sit down while I go get something to clean your wound with?" Kakashi said as he motioned the kitchen table before wandering off down the corridor to the bathroom. Since Naruto had talked about this 'Iruka-sensei' person, he assumed that the man _at least_ came over on occasion and bought a few things with him. His suspicions were confirmed when he found alcohol in the medicine cabinet on the top shelf, well out of little Naruto's reach. He took the bottle in his hand, grabbed a box of band-aids, and then picked up a box of tissues before making his way back to Naruto.

The blond was sitting in one of the kitchen chairs, looking out the window while swinging his short legs happily. He seemed pleased that someone was in his home with him, and it made Kakashi a little sad that he was an important person to the blond when Naruto didn't even know him.

"Want to roll up your pants, there?" Kakashi asked, motioning Naruto's torn pants before unscrewing the cap on the alcohol bottle and pouring a small amount on some tissues. Naruto complied and Kakashi told him to take a deep breath before cleaning up his wound with the alcohol, Naruto being surprisingly silent. After it was clean, Kakashi put a band-aid on it before smiling at Naruto.

"There. All done."

"Thanks, mister." Naruto beamed.

Kakashi was stunned at the smile he saw. It was a smile filled with happiness and love. The Jounin hadn't known the young boy was capable of such a smile, considering everything he went through.

It was then and there that he decided he would tell Naruto what would probably become the most important thing he'd ever told anyone.

"Naruto, I'm going to tell you something, all right?" Kakashi set the bottle of alcohol aside as he sat down beside the blond. "Your ability to smile is the most important thing in the world. If you can smile through anything that happens to you, then you'll always find happiness in your life. Sometimes, it's hard, and I know it's hard, but in the end, a smile can make all the difference. So don't ever stop smiling, okay?"

"But what if I hurt myself again?" Naruto asked, confused.

"It's okay to cry, too." Kakashi reassured. "All I'm saying, is that I hope to see that smile on your face more often. Can you do that?"

Naruto smiled again, nodding. "Yup!"

"Promise?" Kakashi teased.

"Promise, mister!"

**

* * *

**

A few years later.

Kakashi walked down the long corridor that would lead to the classroom that held his new Genin team-to-be. He had high hopes for this team, mainly because of a certain blond-haired boy who was on it.

He slid open the door and poked his head in, only to have a blackboard eraser fall on him before hitting the floor. In front of him, Naruto pointed as he laughed hysterically.

"I got him! I got him, he totally fell for it!"

"I'm sorry sensei, I told him not to do it!" a pink-haired girl exclaimed as she held both hands against her chest. "I'd _never_ do that!"

Kakashi calmly bent down to pick up the eraser, looking at it briefly before glancing around the room for his third student. He couldn't help but smile.

"Let me see. My first impression of this group—you're a bunch of idiots."

All three students stared at him in shock, and somewhat insulted. Kakashi himself just smiled under his mask. _Even though you don't seem to remember me, Naruto—it's good to see you again. And I'm glad that you're still smiling. _

**END.**

* * *

(1) Sorry, had to add this in as how Naruto started eating ramen. Where else would he get the money before he became a ninja? Iruka starts treating him only _after_ Naruto spends too much of the money :P 


	11. Mine's Better

#10)  
Requested by: yukaishepards  
Characters: Naruto, Kiba, Shikamaru and Gaara.  
Situation: An argument over something completely ridiculous, like hair colour.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**A/N in general: A reviewer by the name of "bashking" left me a review with no way to contact him or her. Unfortunately, your request cannot be fulfilled due to the fact that I am not familiar with a character by the name of "Uzuki Yuugao". I do not know which anime he/she is from, so I apologize for this inconvenience. **

* * *

**A/N about this chapter: This was a lot of fun, so I hope you like it. :smiles:**

* * *

"What you fail to understand," Inuzuka Kiba said, waving his fork at Uzumaki Naruto, "is that _you_ are not God's gift to mankind." 

"Aw, are you jealous, Kiba?" the blond demanded with a grin before taking a bite of curry. Kiba just snorted, shaking his head.

"You two are so troublesome." Nara Shikamaru mumbled as he leaned back on the two hind legs of his chair, both hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling.

Sabaku no Gaara just ignored the conversation, wondering for the twenty-third time that night why, exactly, he'd agreed to this. When Naruto had asked him to go out for curry, the redhead had agreed only because he assumed he and Naruto would talk about jutsus and how they were dealing with their respective demons. And then—Kiba and Shikamaru appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. Not that Gaara minded them, per se, but he didn't like discussing things such as his demon when other people were around.

"Why would _I_ be jealous of _you_?" Kiba demanded before shovelling another fork-full of food into his mouth. "You don't get any girls." he managed to get out with his mouth full of food.

"Very nice, Inuzuka." Shikamaru sighed, but the other two boys ignored him, continuing on with their conversation.

"I can get _any_ girl I want!" Naruto shot back. Kiba just snorted. "No, no, listen. All right, now, if you minus the fact that I'm a demon vessel, the girls would _flock _to me."

"Oh, and why's that?" Kiba asked, amused.

"The hair, dude! The hair!" Naruto motioned his brilliant blond hair.

Gaara perked up at this and even Shikamaru stopped staring at the ceiling to regard the blond boy. As soon as Naruto realized he had everyone's attention, he grinned and went on.

"Blond hair is starting to disappear among the populace. You look around now and you see a lot of ravens and brunettes, but hardly any blondes. I mean, Ino and I are the only two blondes we know of."

"I'm the only redhead we know of."

There was silence before all three boys turned to Gaara. Naruto pouted, because it was true.

"Yes—but blond is much nicer to look at."

Kiba snorted. "Says you. I think brunettes have it better off."

"Don't ignore us ravens." Shikamaru sighed lazily. He really didn't want to get involved with this, but he felt it was his duty to defend himself and every other raven-haired man out there. Blondes, brunettes and redheads just _did not_ compare to the inky darkness of a raven's hair.

"You shouldn't get involved, Shikamaru." Kiba insisted. "You'll just drop out in a few seconds. Just let us argue over the fact that brunettes are the best ever."

"They are _not_!" Naruto insisted, slamming his fist on the table and causing their silverware to rattle. "Blondes make people feel happy! They fill others' lives with happiness and sunshine; because their hair is so light, you can't help but feel happy!"

"You're kidding, right?" Kiba asked, suppressing a snicker. "You're a moron. Brunettes have it made, because they know not to expect too much from their counter-parts. We're much more easy-going than blondes. You guys fuss too much."

"Redheads are better." Gaara said simply.

"I like ravens, personally." Shikamaru sighed as he returned to his previous position, leaning back on two legs of the chair with both hands behind his head and staring at the ceiling. "When light from the sun reflects off our hair, it looks like different colours. Sasuke's always looked a little blue, Asuma-sensei's looks kind of green sometimes, and mine apparently looks orange. We have a multitude of colours in our hair, hidden by the fact that it looks black."

"Redheads are better." Gaara repeated, everyone ignoring him, yet again. He wasn't joining in on the conversation other than just saying that redheads were better, so they found no reason to reply.

"Blondes always have more fun!" Naruto insisted. "I can entertain a whole crowd of people, no problem."

"Redheads are better."

"No you couldn't!" Kiba exclaimed. "Blondes may have more fun, but brunettes _always_ know how to have a good time, if you know what I mean." Kiba waggled his eyebrows.

"Redheads are better." Gaara growled, his non-existent eyebrow beginning to twitch in annoyance at being ignored.

"I will continue to insist that the colour reflected on a raven's hair wins the prize." Shikamaru stated.

"Hey, are you talking about the better hair colours?" someone from a neighbouring table asked. "Cause I agree with him." He motioned Shikamaru. "Ravens are cooler."

"Nuh uh, brunettes are awesome." someone from another table close-by shot in. "We _so_ know how to have a good time."

"Hell yeah!" Kiba cheered.

"Redheads are better." Gaara growled again, gritting his teeth.

"Blondes are the best!" Naruto insisted as he stood up, pointing his finger at the brunette from the neighbouring table.

"Redheads are better!" Gaara hollered as he stood up, sand erupting from his gourd and covering the entire restaurant before all the tables were smashed to bits and chairs exploded out from underneath everyone.

There was complete and utter silence as the sand retreated to Gaara's gourd and the redhead stormed out of the curry house, muttering about Konoha inhabitants being idiotic. Everyone watched him leave before letting out relieved sighs at not having been killed.

"Redheads are better." Naruto whispered, agreeing with Gaara. "They're definitely better."

"How so?" Kiba asked.

"Because if you don't say so, they kill you."

Shikamaru and Kiba shared a look.

"Redheads are better."

**END.**

* * *

**A/N: heh heh, go Gaara. Woot**


	12. I Got Your Back

#11)  
Requested by: the leviathan  
Characters: Naruto and Sasuke.  
Situation: A moment between the two when they were kids.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: Dear God, this was hard! You owe me for this, leviathan! Lol... Well, you beta for me, so I guess we're square. Hope you like it! I made them about nine in this, cause Sasuke's clan was killed when he was seven or eight, I think. So, this is either one or two years after that. **

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke let his feet dangle over the water as he sat on the end of the dock, staring at his reflection in the water below him. The wind kept making the water shift, causing his reflection to distort and change in the most gruesome of ways. He frowned as he noticed a few similarities between himself and his older brother, angrily kicking at the water to make it disappear. 

He heard shuffling behind him and turned to see a blond kid coming down the steep hill that led to the dock, stumbling as he went. _Moron, _the Uchiha thought with a snort. _There's **stairs** for that._ The blond boy didn't seem to care either way as he continued to make his way down to the dock. Sasuke recognized him from his class at the ninja academy. Uzumaki Naruto was his name, and back when his parents had been alive, they'd told Sasuke to stay away from him. The raven had never understood why.

He turned back to stare out at the water again as he heard the other boy muttering, probably rubbing his head from his ungraceful stumble down the hill. Sasuke shifted uncomfortably and let a scowl cross his features as he heard light footsteps on the wood behind him, leading up to his position. _Great, just what I need. Company,_ the raven thought with an inward sigh. His outer appearance betrayed nothing.

Naruto stopped behind him and Sasuke didn't acknowledge him. So, shrugging, the blond sat down on the dock as well, perpendicular to where Sasuke was sitting. He, too, looked out over the water in silence. The two sat like that for a long while, Sasuke not minding the other boy so much now that he realized he wasn't going to bother him.

The Uchiha's ears perked up as he heard movement at the top of the hill again, the young children there whispering. He ignored them, not at all interested in interacting with them. He hoped it wasn't people from his class, because then it meant they were going to bother him to help them improve in their shuriken throwing or something.

Sasuke let another scowl cross his features as he heard them descending and readied himself to glare at them and tell them to go away when instead, all he heard was a dull 'thunk' and a 'splash'. Startled, he turned to see the blond sputtering as he surfaced, shaking his head to rid the hair from his eyes.

"My mom says you should go and _die_ somewhere, you stupid loser." One of the three boys at the end of the dock screamed at the blond as he walked slowly down the wooden structure, a large rock in one hand. Sasuke realized one of them had thrown a rock at Naruto, sending him into the water.

He looked down at the blond and saw his head bowed, his wet bangs covering his eyes as he swam to the side of the dock and began to climb out. A foot suddenly appeared on the blond's hand, crushing it painfully against the wood. Naruto cried out.

"Why are you bothering to get out? You know we'll just throw you back in, you big loser."

Sasuke watched the scene in silence, the other boys ignoring him, as if knowing he wouldn't do anything to help Naruto. This caused the Uchiha to frown. They shouldn't assume he wouldn't help the other boy; they didn't know anything about him! This angered Sasuke, so when one of the other boys still further down the dock threw a rock at Naruto, hitting him in the head, Sasuke stood up and turned his dark gaze on him.

The boy froze, his eyes wide as he stared back at the Uchiha, the pudgy boy at the complete end of the dock turning and running. Sasuke turned his glare to the boy crushing Naruto's hand. He looked a little nervous, too.

"You interrupted my calm. Leave." he stated monotonously, but added in with a glare, it sent the two remaining boys running, their shoes pounding against the wooden dock as they retreated hastily.

Sasuke turned his attention back to Naruto, noting the knuckles on the blond's right hand were bruised and bleeding slightly. The other boy didn't seem to notice as he pulled himself from the water, grunting with difficulty due to his heavy clothing, now that it was wet.

Without a word, he shifted position and sat down the same way he had been sitting before the boys had come to interrupt them, staring out at the water, letting the sun dry him. Sasuke watched his back for a few seconds before also retaking his seat at the very end of the dock, looking out over the water.

The two sat in silence once again, both silently enjoying the other's company, even though neither spoke. When the sun began to lower, Naruto finally stood up, his hair and pants dry, but his heavy jacket still a little damp. He had to meet Iruka-sensei for ramen soon, and he didn't want to be late.

As the blond turned and walked back down the dock, he stopped briefly as he considered something. Without turning around, Naruto took a deep breath. "Thanks." he said simply before taking off at a run, bolting up the stairs on the side of the hill and rushing down the street.

The Uchiha allowed a small smile to form on his lips once he knew the blond was gone. "You're welcome."

**END.**


	13. Swan Lake

#12)  
Requested by: Seraphix  
Characters: Naruto and Sasuke  
Situation: Naruto discovers that Sasuke dances ballet and has a strong desire to play the dying swan in Swan Lake. He finds him practising in full leotard, skirt and all. Story must end with them slow-dancing.  
Requirement: End of the story must have the line "A little less dancing, a little more slowness" said by Naruto. Must also include intimacy in their dancing and body movements (mou, so mean! I can't do that!)  
Pairings: SasuNaru

**

* * *

A/N: You were trying to kill me, dude, I know it. Don't try to deny it, I know you were :points an accusing finger at Seraphix: I tried my best, and I'm sorry if it's not what you were expecting :sweatdrop: This was really, _really_ hard because me and intimacy... it just doesn't exist, so I hope you're not too disappointed. I really did try. **

**This is set a few years later-ish. After everything with Orochimaru blows over. Naruto doesn't wear his orange jumpsuit anymore, he wears black Jounin pants and a short-sleeved black shirt, similar to the one he wore under his orange jacket. Sasuke wears baggy white shorts and a black muscle-shirt with the Uchiha logo (yes, their clothing is somewhat important).**

* * *

To Uzumaki Naruto, today was just going to be another day. It had started like every other day—he'd eaten his ramen, taken a shower, got in some training, argued with Sasuke-teme, and was now heading to Ichiraku to meet up with Iruka-sensei. He'd been disappointed when his former sensei had told him he wouldn't buy him the ramen this time, but it was okay. Naruto had made a lot of money during his last mission, so he wasn't too concerned. 

Smiling happily, he patted his pant pocket where his frog-wallet always was, and a frown marred his features. He put his hand in his pocket before tapping his other pocket and turning them both inside out.

"Eh? Eh?.! Where did it go?.!" he asked as he began looking around himself frantically.

He thought back to when he'd last had it and let out a low growl as he began running back towards the training grounds. He'd probably lost it sometime during his spar with Uchiha Sasuke, and it was going to take him _forever_ to find it.

He thought about going to Ichiraku and letting Iruka-sensei know what had happened, but the Chuunin would probably think he was trying to get a free meal out of it, and he didn't want that. So instead, he just rushed back as quickly as possible, hoping to find his wallet before it was too late and Iruka just gave up and went home.

The blond reached the training grounds and flew into the surrounding forest, headed in the direction he and Sasuke had been sparring in. It wouldn't be too hard to find the location, since Sasuke had used a few Chidori and Naruto himself had gone a little overboard with Rasengan.

As he neared the clearing, he forced himself to stop when music met his ears. He cocked a confused eyebrow as he continued to listen, not recognizing the slow music he was hearing. And where was it coming from, anyway? _Wait—isn't that in the same direction as where Sasuke and I fought?_ Naruto thought as he moved closer, masking his chakra.

The blond reached the small clearing—which hadn't been there previously; the two ninja had created it due to their spar—and looked through the foliage. When his eyes met the sight that greeted him, he didn't know whether to let his jaw drop all the way to the ground, or laugh his head off until he fell out of the tree. Since he couldn't decide, he just ended up sitting there, gawking.

There, in the new clearing, was none other than Uchiha Sasuke himself, wearing a full-body leotard and—a tutu. He was prancing around the clearing, looking like an idiot—in Naruto's opinion, anyway. He watched as Sasuke moved, much less graceful than when he sparred with the blond.

Soon enough, Naruto couldn't take it anymore. He burst out laughing, clutching his stomach as he leaned backwards. Sasuke froze in his actions and whipped around to regard the laughing teen perched up in the tree. Naruto laughed so hard he ended up snorting, which caused him to laugh even harder—which effectively caused him to fall out of the tree.

Sasuke _could_ have broken his fall; there was no doubt about it. He knew he could've easily made it across the clearing to catch the falling blond, but after Naruto's outburst, why would he want to? So instead, he just watched the blond pick himself up off the forest floor, letting out a low grumble as he winced and rubbed the back of his head.

"What are you doing here?" Sasuke demanded coldly, trying not to show his embarrassment as Naruto made his way towards him.

"I lost my wallet." Naruto looked up to glare at him, but then his cheeks puffed out as he tried to contain his laughter, looking away quickly. Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking around quickly. He immediately noticed the frog-purse across the clearing and strode towards it, picking it up and practically hurling it at the other ninja.

Naruto caught it easily, red in the face from his strain of trying not to laugh. He cleared his throat and looked away from Sasuke to try and stop the laughter bubbling in his chest. After all, they were almost adults, and even though he and Sasuke still had their rivalry, he had become more mature. He wasn't going to just laugh in the Uchiha's face—as tempting as it was.

"What _exactly_ are you doing, Uchiha?"

"What does it look like?" Sasuke snapped.

Naruto _almost_ lost control. Almost. "I'm not exactly sure."

"I'm doing _ballet_."

Naruto covered up his laugh with a cough. It was actually more like a fit of coughing than just one cough. He hoped Sasuke didn't notice it was a cover up.

He did.

"Why?"

"Because I enjoy it." Sasuke snapped defensively. "And I'm practising for something."

_Oh man, I don't know how much longer I can take this,_ Naruto thought as his lungs threatened to burst from his holding back. _I wish I had a camera. Or a pen and paper so I could draw this. Or something, **anything**! _Naruto needed a way to show people this, he needed a way to ensure he never, _ever_ forgot about this—but he didn't have any way of recording it, so he would just have to hope the image stayed burned in his mind forever.

"I see." he managed to get out without laughing. "And, uh—what are you practising for, dare I ask?"

"I'm not going to tell you." Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"Why not?"

"You're just going to laugh your idiotic ass off."

Naruto almost lost it again. "Sasuke, you're wearing a _skirt_, how do you expect me _not_ to laugh?.!"

"It's a _tutu_." Sasuke snapped.

"Just tell me, teme." Naruto sighed as he plopped down in front of one of the trees, staring at Sasuke and containing his laughter.

Sasuke let out a growl as he looked away from the blond, his arms still crossed. "Swan Lake is performing in the Village Hidden in the Stone. They're looking for dancers, and I thought I'd try my part at the dying swan."

"Wait a second." Naruto held up one hand. "Isn't that a _woman's_ role?"

"Yes." Sasuke glared at him.

Naruto covered his mouth with both hands, desperately holding in his laughter. Sasuke continued to glare and Naruto had to look away from him and squeeze his eyes shut, his hands pressing hard against his mouth. He was going to die, he could tell. It _couldn't_ be healthy trying to hold in your laughter, it just _couldn't_ be!

"Go away, dobe." Sasuke snapped as he padded over to the stereo he'd brought from home and hit the back button to restart the song. He kicked his bag with his training clothes aside and turned to get into position again.

"You're not going to start dancing again, are you?.!" Naruto exploded, unable to hold his laughter in any more as he howled, hitting his leg.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke snapped, resisting the urge to stomp his foot. "Go away!"

"Why, are you embarrassed?" Naruto smirked as he got to his feet, brushing off the back of his pants. He noticed a small tinge of pink on Sasuke's cheeks and grinned. "You _are_ embarrassed."

"I am not!" Sasuke snapped. "Now either go away, or come here and be my partner!"

"I don't do ballet." The blond sighed, shaking his head as he made his way towards Sasuke. "It's not my fault you have a skirt fetish."

"Shut up, dobe!" Sasuke snapped again as he grabbed the other boy's arm and yanked him towards himself. Naruto let out a yelp as he followed through with gravity, clutching Sasuke's shoulders to stop from falling to the ground as the other boy wrapped his arms Naruto.

"Teme! What was that for?"

"Dance with me." Sasuke murmured in the blond's ear. Naruto blushed all the way to his toes at the seductive tone in his best friend's voice.

"I already told you I can't do ballet." He pushed against Sasuke's chest.

"Then we'll dance something else." Sasuke didn't relinquish his hold.

"Like what?"

"Slow-dancing. Ballroom dancing."

Naruto felt his mouth go dry as he lowered his head, praying his bangs would cover his insane blush. Sasuke wouldn't release him, even though he kept trying to push the other boy away, so he finally just gave a small nod.

Sasuke let him pull away slightly as he walked to the stereo and changed the song to something else, glancing over his shoulder every once in a while to ensure Naruto was still there. Once the song was changed, he made his way back to Naruto and pulled one of the other boy's hands into his, putting his other hand on the blond's waist.

"Oh, there is _no_ way I'm the girl when you're the one standing there in a leotard and a _tutu_." Naruto insisted, pushing the other boy away.

With a low growl and some muttering, Sasuke grabbed his training clothes and went around a tree, changing quickly into his shorts and muscle-shirt. He restarted the song as he re-emerged and made his way up to Naruto.

"Shall we try this again?"

"I still don't see why _I_ have to be the girl." Naruto glared.

"Shut up, dobe." Sasuke whispered as he grabbed the other boy's hand and pulled him closer.

Slowly, Sasuke's right hand travelled down Naruto's left arm across his smooth skin. Once he reached the blond's hand, he brought it back up so it rested on his shoulder. Sasuke then let his hand trail down his rival's side until he stopped right at the hip. His other hand slid down the blond's skin again until their hands met and he closed his hand around the other's.

Naruto was blushing furiously and refused to meet Sasuke's eyes, instead preferring to look over the other boy's shoulder as Sasuke began to move, leading the blond's steps. Naruto followed them, still kind of miffed at being the girl, but quickly getting over it. He allowed himself to be lead, his eyes drifting down to his own hand, which rested peacefully on the raven's shoulder, as if it were the only place it was ever meant to be. Slowly, hesitantly, Naruto shifted his hand so he could run his fingertips along the Uchiha's slightly exposed shoulder. He watched his hand move with fascination as it ran across the smooth, milky white skin. He brought it back up to the other boy's shoulder before continuing on his way and resting his hand along the back of the Uchiha's neck, running his thumb across the other boy's hairline.

Naruto's eyes finally left his hand once he couldn't see it anymore and looked up into Sasuke's eyes. Onyx orbs stared right back, and he felt himself flushing all over again when he saw the look in the Uchiha's eyes. Sasuke was never one to show emotions, so when Naruto saw a few flicker in his eyes, he was stunned. He tried not to let it show, because it would ruin the moment, but the deep and profound way Sasuke was staring at him made Naruto feel insanely happy. He felt as if someone actually cared about him in a way he thought no one would _ever_ care about him.

Naruto let a small smile spread across his face. It wasn't his usual trademark grin or even a smile used to cover something up. It was a true, genuine smile. Something meant only for Sasuke.

The raven felt his breath hitch, but he forced himself to ignore it as he pulled the blond closer so their chests were touching. He couldn't help but admire the firmness of the other boy's muscles beneath the blond's shirt, able to feel them as he pressed even closer, the hand on Naruto's hip moving to encircle the blond's back. Naruto did the same with his own arm, moving it around Sasuke's neck and resting his head on the Uchiha's shoulder. The blond's breath tickled his neck with each exhale and Sasuke closed his eyes, relishing the warm air hitting his sensitive neck.

Sasuke could clearly feel the way the other boy's muscles shifted beneath his skin as the two of them moved. He'd never thought it would be one of the most attractive things in the world. Just being able to _feel_ Naruto—to know that he was touching him in a way no one else ever had, and probably ever would.

He continued to lead Naruto around in a circle, the other boy letting out a small sigh before squeezing himself tighter against the raven and whispering in his ear.

"A little less dancing, a little more slowness."

Sasuke let a smile flit across his face as he complied, almost stopping his movements completely. All he did was the occasional shuffle, Naruto lazily following along as the raven let his hand lift the back of Naruto's shirt slightly so he could run his fingers along the smooth, tanned flesh of his best friend and rival.

The two of them continued to dance like this for the remainder of the song, and then into the next one. And the next one. Both were content with just standing there, holding one another and shuffling their feet slowly. Sasuke enjoyed Naruto's firm body against his own, and Naruto couldn't get enough of Sasuke's smooth skin, constantly wondering how a ninja could possibly survive all those battles and _not_ have any scars.

And then—the moment was ruined.

"Maa, maa." The two boys jerked away from each other and looked up into a nearby tree, Hatake Kakashi smirking down at them—well, they _assumed_ he was smirking based on the curve of his one visible eye. It was honestly hard to tell since all but one-fourth of the Jounin's face was covered. "Isn't this cute? Don't let me interrupt you."

"Piss off, Hatake." Sasuke growled as he shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards his stereo to get it and leave. The moment was ruined, anyway.

As he gathered his things and put them back in his bag, he picked it up and slung it over his shoulder, the stereo in his other hand. Naruto was still standing awkwardly in the middle of the clearing, and Sasuke passed by him on his way out.

"Thanks for the dance." he said smoothly before letting a small smile cross his features.

He walked away without another word, Naruto blushing but smiling all the same as he watched the Uchiha retreat.

**END.**


	14. The End of my Rope

#13)  
Requested by: IssaLee  
Characters: Kiba and Shikamaru.  
Situation: Kiba and Shikamaru are in a place where they must be quiet. Kiba is trying to explain the markings on his face to an uninterested Shikamaru, and is quickly losing his patience.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

_

* * *

_**A/N: This was amazingly fun, heh. I love Kiba and Shikamaru. Shikamaru's birthday is the same as mine, too. I found that out today... too bad I'm not a genius like him :sigh:**_

* * *

Why am I here?_ Nara Shikamaru thought with an annoyed sigh as he put another book on the shelf before him._ What kinds of people are making these missions? I'm a Chuunin now, aren't I? So why am I still getting D-ranked missions? _The Chuunin looked over at his partner for the mission._ And why am I with **him**? Surely Ino and Chouji should've been their first choice, but instead, I get Inuzuka Kiba. That's almost as bad as getting Uzumaki Naruto. How troublesome._

However, what Shikamaru had thought was true. Why would the shinobi down at the mission office give him a D-rank mission with Kiba? And this had to be one of the _worst_ ones ever. To be honest, Shikamaru didn't even know they _had_ a library until he was told he had to go help put all the books back on their shelves.

There had been a fight between two men a few days before, and they had knocked over one of the bookshelves. Of course, because libraries were stupidly designed, the domino effect occurred and all of the bookshelves fell over.

So, here Shikamaru was, in a library he didn't know existed, with a shinobi he hardly even knew. Life was so troublesome.

"Hey, Shik." Shikamaru turned lazily to the annoying voice of his companion. "You're not slacking off, are you?"

"How can I slack off if I haven't really been working to begin with?" Shikamaru sighed before yawning. "This is so troublesome."

"We can't leave until we finish." Kiba grumbled. "So you better hurry up and help, because I'll kill you if I end up doing it all myself."

"Sh!" Both boys turned to see the prim librarian at the end of their row, her mouth set in a tight line and her eyes narrowed. "This is a _library_." she whispered. "Stop being so loud."

"Sorry." Kiba muttered as he put another three books on their shelves.

The librarian walked off and Kiba stuck his tongue out at the woman's retreating back. Shikamaru would've smiled had he not been so lazy. Honestly, Kiba and Naruto were almost identical, sometimes. _They even both have markings on their cheeks,_ Shikamaru mused as he set one book back on the shelf.

A frown marred the Chuunin's face as he thought of something for a few seconds. _Come to think of it, why does Kiba have those markings? After all, I know Naruto is the Nine-Tailed Demon Fox, Kyuubi—it would take an **idiot** not to figure it out. But then—what about Kiba?_

Before he realized he'd opened his mouth, the question was out and floating in the air. "How come you have markings on your face?"

Kiba turned to him, confusion evident in his eyes for a few seconds before his face split in a grin. _Oh, fantastic,_ Shikamaru sighed. _Now that I've asked him that, he'll start talking and not shut up. **Why** did I voice that aloud? So troublesome._

"I'm glad you asked, Shikamaru." Kiba grinned before looking around cautiously for the librarian. He then leaned closer to the Chuunin. "It's so our clan can be easily recognized."

"Hm." Shikamaru answered uninterestedly.

"You see, it's like this: we have so many traits that are unique to the Inuzuka clan, and we're very important to the ninja population. However, people kept overlooking us because we weren't easily distinguishable in the village."

"Fascinating." Shikamaru moved around the bookshelf to get away from Kiba. His actions were futile as the dog-boy pushed a few books aside, creating a hole in the selves so he could look through and see Shikamaru.

"You asked, idiot. Now listen." Kiba snapped, annoyed.

"Quiet!" a voice whispered angrily from another row of shelves. Both boys winced, but Kiba looked back at Shikamaru, anyway.

"Like I was saying, no one could distinguish us from the rest of the population, so we decided to make ourselves known." Shikamaru didn't even pretend to be listening, at this point. "We decided that tattooing our faces would be the most obvious place because it's something that's hardly ever covered. You know, unless you're ANBU, in which case, you don't _want_ people knowing who you are, and _are you **listening** to me_?" he hissed.

"Huh?" Shikamaru looked up at him. "No." He put a book right where Kiba's nose was.

The Inuzuka growled before coming around the bookshelf and glaring at Shikamaru.

"Don't you care about why they look the way they do?"

"No." Shikamaru answered truthfully.

The pissy librarian appeared at the end of their row again, her mouth set in an even tighter line than before. "I hired you to help me clean up my library _silently_, not to chatter away. This is a _library_! Everything must be _silent_! You are ninja, are you not? You should understand the _meaning_ of **_silence_**!"

She turned on her heel and stormed off—silently, to both boys' amazement—muttering about useless boys.

Shikamaru heeded her words, returning to his work silently, but Kiba being who he was, he just lowered his voice and continued to talk.

"Anyway, we chose these markings because, as you can tell, they look a little bit like fangs. See?" He motioned them, waiting for Shikamaru to look up at them. The Chuunin didn't, which caused Kiba to frown. "_Anyway_," he grumbled, annoyed, "they're like this because they look like fangs, and we decided on red because we thought it would inflict fear in the hearts of those who went against us. You know, red like blood on a pair of fangs. It's like we have the blood of our enemies on our faces, locked forever in our teeth kind of thing, you know?"

Kiba flashed him a huge grin, but Shikamaru continued to ignore him, wondering how long it would be before he was back outside staring at the clouds. Honestly, being a Chuunin was such hard work.

Kiba's eyebrow twitched angrily as he stomped one foot. "Dammit, Shikamaru, why did you ask if you didn't want to listen to the damn answer!" he demanded angrily.

"Be _quiet_!" the librarian shrieked.

Kiba let out a girlish scream as he jumped and tripped over a book. He stumbled backwards and slammed, hard, into one of the bookshelves. All the colour drained from Shikamaru's face before he looked at the ground in defeat.

"How troublesome." he whispered as all the rows of bookshelves they'd just finished ended up back on the floor as they toppled over one after the other.

"You stupid, _stupid_ boys!" The librarian was practically ripping her grey hair out.

"Heh, sorry." Kiba scratched his head sheepishly.

"You know, Inuzuka," Kiba looked at Shikamaru, "I'm sorry I asked."

With that, the Chuunin sighed before righting the bookshelf closest to him, getting ready to start all over again—on the _opposite_ side of the building as Kiba. He and Naruto really _were_ alike. Clumsy—and stupid.

END.


	15. All My Children

#14)  
Requested by: MsKeller  
Characters: Shikamaru and Neji  
Situation: Shikamaru and Neji are on a babysitting mission where they have to escort a 2 year old and a 7 year old. The seven year old argues everything that comes out of Shikamaru's mouth.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**A/N: Man, it's a good thing I don't own any of these characters, because they would HATE me... and with good reason :laughs evilly:**

* * *

When Hyuuga Neji woke up that warm, comfortable summer morning—he knew straight away something was going to go wrong. He couldn't establish _what_, exactly, was going to be so horrible about his day, but he knew it was going to go badly. 

And that was why when he was forced out of bed at three in the afternoon by his uncle, he acted very unlike himself and struggled to remain right where he was. He should've known it was pointless, and that his uncle would win, but hey, a Hyuuga can hope, right?

So, he'd gotten out of bed and reported to the Hokage's office at four o'clock in the afternoon, Nara Shikamaru standing beside him as the Hokage regarded them. The meeting was short, consisting mostly of her apologizing for sending them out on a mission during their time off, but they'd run out of shinobi, and this was important.

The lazy ninja and genius had both agreed to the mission without really knowing the full extent of it. All they'd been told was that they would have to escort two important clients to the border of Fire country where shinobi from Wind country would collect them and bring them home.

That was why when they saw their charges, Neji knew he should've fought harder to stay in bed an hour and a half ago.

"This little cutie here is Chisato." Tsunade said as she patted a young girl's head. Her bright green eyes stared wide and unblinking at Neji, her left thumb in her mouth and her right hand holding a broken and dirty doll. "She's two years old, and quite a handful. I was thinking that you, Hyuuga-san, could look after her during this mission." Neji almost fell over, but he had his pride. "She won't be able to keep up with you at all, no matter how slowly you go, so you'll probably have to carry her the whole way."

"How troublesome." Shikamaru rubbed his head, but he said nothing else.

"This little guy is Jun." Tsunade motioned the boy standing beside Chisato. He had his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed as he glared at the two shinobi before him. "He is seven years old, and although I'm sure he'll be able to keep up with your minimum speed, as we want this mission done before nightfall, you're probably also going to have to carry him."

"Wait." Shikamaru held up a hand. "Why do _I_ have to carry the elder one?"

"Because you're the Chuunin." Tsunade smiled sweetly. "Now, off you go."

"So troublesome." Shikamaru muttered as he put his hand on Jun's shoulder and led him out of the room.

Neji bent down beside Chisato and lifted her into his arms. She kept her thumb in her mouth and turned large, unblinking eyes on Neji, staring at him intently. Neji winced, because he wasn't used to having people stare at him like that. It made him incredibly uncomfortable.

He turned and walked out of the office after Shikamaru, following the Chunnin towards the front gates of Konoha.

As they walked down the street, Chisato's hand left her mouth and Neji cringed as her drool-covered hand touched his shirt on its way to around his neck. His eyes widening were the only indication that something was wrong. Only the people behind him would ever know why he looked like that. Chisato was pulling on his hair, laughing as she did so.

Oh yeah. Neji _definitely_ should've stayed in bed today.

* * *

"How come we're going this way?" Jun demanded as he and Shikamaru flew through the trees, Jun on the Chuunin's back.

Shikamaru sighed. "I told you before, Jun, this is the quickest way to the border." _Now shut **up**, already,_ the Chuunin thought, annoyed.

"I _know_ you already told me that, pineapple-san," Shikamaru's eyebrow twitched, "but I still insist it would be faster if we went _that_ way." He motioned the opposite way that Shikamaru was going.

"And I've already told you, Jun, that going _that_ way will bring us back to Konoha."

"You're just stupid." Jun insisted with a scoff. There was a pause. "Are we there yet?"

Shikamaru had never been one for wanting to kill people, but his kunai and shuriken were looking _very _appealing right now.

He heard a grunt and looked beside him at Neji, who was easily keeping up with him. He almost felt bad for the Genin as he watched Chisato giggle insanely while tugging mercilessly on Neji's hair. Then again, it was the own idiot's fault for not cutting it, or at _least_ putting it up. Honestly, that hair must be such a bother when he's fighting.

"Pineapple-san?"

"_What_, Jun?" Shikamaru asked with an annoyed sigh.

"How come Hairy-san doesn't tell Chisato to stop pulling on his hair?"

Neji threw Jun a scathing look at the 'hairy-san' comment, but he ignored the question. If he was suffering with Chisato, then Shikamaru could suffer with Jun.

"Why don't you ask 'Hairy-san'?" Shikamaru sighed. _This child is so troublesome._

"I didn't _ask _Hairy-san because I don't _want_ to ask Hairy-san. I want _you_ to tell me."

"I don't know, Jun."

"Well, _you're_ a bad shinobi, then, aren't you?" Jun sighed explosively. "Are we there yet?"

"No." Shikamaru growled, getting very annoyed. _This kid is worse than Naruto!_

"How about now?"

"No."

"And now?"

"We're not going to be there for another twenty minutes, at least." Shikamaru insisted.

"I think you're wrong." Jun retorted. "I say we can make it there in at _least_ five. You're just not going fast enough. Go faster, pineapple-san."

Shikamaru turned to Neji, the Hyuuga able to read his mind perfectly. _I'm going to kill this kid, and make it look like an accident._ Neji had to admit, he wouldn't mind it if Jun 'accidentally' got injured.

There was another sharp yank on his hair and a loud giggle, causing the Hyuuga to grit his teeth. _I wouldn't mind it if **both** of them conveniently got injured!_

"Pineapple-san, Hairy-san is going faster than you. You should speed up, or else you shouldn't be wearing that green vest. It's an ugly colour, anyway, but still."

"I _like_ my green vest." Shikamaru retorted.

"It's still ugly. It makes you look like a fat pineapple." He tugged slightly on Shikamaru's pointy hair and the Chuunin's eyes widened. _If he starts yanking, too, mission or not, I'm dropping him right here._ "Why do you have your hair up like this, anyway, Pineapple-san?"

"Because it stays out of my face." Shikamaru replied as he looked at Neji, an understanding coming between them. If they went full-speed, they could make it to the border in about five minutes.

With a nod from each, they faced forward again and put on a burst of speed. Chisato started crying, because the speed scared her, and Jun laughed and cheered at the increase.

Soon, they were at the border and they practically hurled the children at the next set of shinobi, wishing them luck before hurrying back into the trees.

The Wind shinobi stared after them, confused, before Jun tugged on the closest one's sleeve. "How come you don't look as cool as Pineapple-san?"

END.


	16. Follow Me!

**I would like to remind everyone that this contest is CLOSED, and has been for a while. I realize this was fairly popular, and I am considering doing another one, but for the time being, as I am only on 15 and I have 50 to do, I would appreciate it if people would stop sending me requests, as I am already past the 50 limit. Thank you. **

* * *

#15)  
Requested by: MsKeller  
Characters: Lee and various.  
Situation: Lee is an aerobic instructor and everyone is forced to attend the class.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

"Why are we here again?" Uzumaki Naruto muttered out of the corner of his mouth. 

"Tsunade made us come?" Inuzuka Kiba whispered back.

"Right." Naruto sighed. "Why was that again?"

"Because Gai-sensei is out on a mission, and he promised to bring chaos and panic to the village if people didn't come to Lee's first class, since he was going to miss it." Hatake Kakashi stated from his position against the wall, flipping a page of his dirty novel.

"And how come all the senseis don't have to participate?" Yamanka Ino asked as she glared at the perverted shinobi.

"Tsunade said we had to be here." he stated, turning the page again. "She said nothing about participating."

"Are you even reading that?" Kiba interrupted. Kakashi just stared at him before returning his gaze to his book, flipping the page. "I don't think he's really reading that." he whispered to Naruto. The blond nodded in agreement.

"You, on the other hand, are going to do everything Lee tells you to." Kakashi continued, as if Kiba had never interrupted him.

"And if we don't?" Haruno Sakura crossed her arms.

Kakashi looked at her over the top of his book and smiled, his visible eye curving happily. "You'll be doing D-rank missions for the next five months."

"What?.!" all the Genin in the room hollered.

"That's _so_ not fair." Tamura Tenten muttered as she crossed her arms, miffed.

"What in life truly is, Miss Tenten?" Kakashi offered with another smile.

"Hello!" a voice boomed from the front of the room. All heads turned to face the speaker—except Kakashi's, since his eyes were too busy reading the words on the page before him. "Are all of you ready to demonstrate your youth?.!" Rock Lee demanded as he pumped both fists in the air.

All the Genin groaned, but as a few of them glanced at their various senseis, who all mouthed 'D-rank,' they all hollered back in fake enthusiasm.

"Yosh!" Lee yelled again. "Everyone, follow me!"

Lee _pranced_ across the room to his stereo and hit the play button. Kiba and Naruto shared a defeated look. Both of them were thinking the same thing: _This is going to be awful._

"How troublesome." Nara Shikamaru sighed from across the room. "I'm a Chuunin. Why can't _I_ sit out like the senseis?"

"Because you're a nice person." Ino smirked at him. "Now shut up, if we screw up, we're stuck doing D-ranks for the rest of our lives."

"Yosh!" Lee hollered again. "We will now start, everyone! Now, do one-hundred sit-ups!"

"Eh?.!" Everyone demanded as they all practically fell over from shock. Lee had already started.

"Kakashi-sensei!" Sakura whined. The Jounin just smiled.

"Better get a move-on, or you'll never finish."

Bitching and groaning, all the Genin—and the single Chuunin—began to do the sit-ups, all of them in pain after fifty.

"One-hundred!" Lee hollered once he'd finished. He regarded his students and frowned as he noticed they were all groaning and going much slower than he'd anticipated.

Lee focused on each person. Most of them weren't doing too badly—Neji and Naruto were already in the eighties—but others were doing horribly. The aerobic instructor made his way through his students and stopped beside Akamichi Chouji.

"Twelve..." he panted.

"Come on, Chouji!" He hollered, startling the people around him. "You can do it! Use your youth! Your strength! Your youthful strength!"

"Can we..." Sakura panted. "Move on? Maybe?"

"All right." Lee seemed disheartened. "Twenty laps around Konoha!"

The green-clad shinobi ran for the door, laughing in much the same manner as Gai. Nobody followed him, all of them too exhausted.

"D-rank." Kakashi sang pleasantly from his position against the wall, flipping the page of his book. All the Genin and the single Chuunin followed after the exuberant teen. None of them would survive this day.

* * *

Maito Gai hurried back to the village, rushing through the streets of Konoha towards the Hokage tower. He slammed through the doors, startling the Hokage so much that she spilled sake all over the papers in front of her. 

"Hokage-sama!" he exclaimed urgently.

"What is it, Gai?" Tsunade asked, panic setting in. "Is it nukenins? Akatsuki?"

"No!" Gai exclaimed.

"Worse?" Tsunade wasn't sure it was _possible_ for it to be any worse.

"No! How was Lee's first class?.!"

Tsunade wanted to punch the man. She wasn't a particularly violent person, by any measure, but right now—she really, really, _really_ wanted to punch this man.

"For Lee, it went fine." she stated.

"I knew it!" Gai brought his fists against his chest as tears of happiness rained down his face. "My Lee is going to be the best aerobic instructor in the world!"

"Not exactly."

"Huh?" Gai turned back to Tsunade, the tears disappearing as quickly as they had appeared. "What do you mean?"

Tsunade handed him a pile of paper. Gai frowned as he began to sift through them, noting they were all missions. He didn't understand.

"The other senseis threatened to send the Genin on D-rank missions for a five-month period if they didn't follow Lee exactly. Upon doing so, all of them exhausted themselves. We now have over fifty missions, and no one to complete them. As this is partly your fault, you shall be accompanying Lee on all of these missions to make up for the lack of shinobi we currently have."

Gai laughed joyously. "Hokage-sama, I am honoured! Lee and I shall finish these missions in one day! No! One _hour_!" He turned and ran out of the room. "I'm coming, Lee!"

Tsunade buried her face in her arms. "I can't believe I agreed to take this job."

THE END.


	17. Let It Snow

#16)  
Requested by: Lex  
Characters: Gaara and Naruto  
Situation: Gaara experiences snow for the first time, and Naruto is there to share it with him.  
Pairings: GaaNaru  
Spoilers: YES!

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: For some odd reason, the ruler isn't working so I'm going to have to use dashes. I hate that! Anyway, this one was cute and fluffy to write, so I hope you enjoy!**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"I still don't get it!" Uzumaki Naruto insisted as he bounced around beside Sabaku no Gaara. "You're from Sand, and I'm from Konoha. So why did you ask Tsunade if I could be your escort? That, and I'm only a Chuunin. Shouldn't the Kazekage have Jounin guarding him or something? Or ANBU?"

"I wanted someone who's been to the Country of Snow before." Gaara replied smoothly as they continued walking. "As my choices for the best of Konoha were you, Kakashi, Sakura and Sasuke, naturally, I chose you."

"Why?" Naruto asked with a frown.

"I do not enjoy Kakashi's company, Sakura is a useless woman, and Sasuke is too arrogant. I'd much prefer to spend this time with someone I regard as a friend than a useless, arrogant shinobi."

"Aw, I'm your friend?" Naruto swung one arm around Gaara's shoulders, the other tensing. "I love you, too, Gaara-chan." Naruto snickered as he released the Kazekage and continued to bounce beside him as they walked.

Gaara was glad for his self-control, because having Naruto's arm around him should've made him blush. It didn't, though, because Gaara was just cool like that. He could control everything about himself, even his blush.

Gaara wasn't sure when his attraction for Naruto had started. He supposed it was when he'd seen Naruto again and the blond hadn't shown any contempt towards him for what he'd done during the Chuunin exam. And then, being saved by Naruto—being shown he wasn't alone, Gaara hadn't been able to understand the feelings rushing through his mind at the time. To have someone just like him, someone who knew his pain—it was refreshing to know that things could change. After all, Gaara himself was now Kazekage, and Konoha had finally accepted Naruto.

Yes, there was something special about Naruto. Something Gaara found irresistible. He knew it was wrong, and he knew he shouldn't be falling in love with another man, let alone a man from another village, but he couldn't help himself. He kept imagining going to visit Konoha on official business, and walking into the Hokage's office—it was always Naruto in his dreams—and just throwing everything off the desk and screwing the shit out of him. Yes, Kazekage Gaara and Hokage Naruto. A couple. It was absurd. It was ridiculous. It was downright impossible. But hey, a shinobi can dream, right?

"We're almost there." Naruto grinned, pointing in front of them. "Look, see! I can see some snow."

Gaara looked forward and shivered, wrapping his jacket tighter around himself. He came from the desert. _Konoha_ was too cold for him. This place was going to downright _kill_ him.

But then, as they kept walking and Gaara got closer and closer to the snow, he couldn't help but be transfixed by its beauty. It was just white powder, but it was so beautiful. Clean and untainted, with not a sign of it being disturbed.

Naruto laughed joyously as he ran to the nearest patch of undisturbed snow and took off his gloves. He put one hand in the snow and pulled it back out, leaving his hand-print in the snow.

"See? See? Isn't it cool. I love snow." The Chuunin laughed as he fell over into the snow and spread out his arms and legs. "It's cold, but it's so cool. And it's so different from everything we get back in Suna and Konoha, ne? Ne?" Naruto asked excitedly as he sat up.

He frowned as he noticed the Kazekage staring down at the snow in fascination, but making no move to touch it. Smirking viciously, Naruto grabbed a handful of snow and lobbed it playfully at Gaara. The redhead didn't move, expecting his sand to jump out and block the snow, so he was incredibly surprised when the cold powder slammed into his face. His head jerked back in shock as he looked down at Naruto with wide-eyes. The blond just doubled over laughing at the look on his face.

"It wasn't going to hurt you, Gaara-_chan_." Naruto teased. "It's harmless."

Naruto grabbed snow in both hands and threw it in the air, laughing joyously as it all fell back onto him. He shook his head to rid the white powder from his hair and smiled at Gaara. His smile then turned into a grin as he launched himself at the other shinobi, sending him flying onto his back in the snow. He laughed merrily as he threw both fists in the air, unconsciously straddling the redhead.

"Victory!" He laughed some more before rolling off Gaara, calming himself down. "Oh, man, I love snow."

Gaara was still trying to recover from being straddled. He turned his head to glance at Naruto out of the corner of his eye, noting that some snowflakes were on his eyelashes. The blond looked so—happy. So innocently happy over what seemed to be the smallest thing. Snow.

Before Gaara was aware of what he was doing, he found his hand on its way to Naruto's face. He caught himself before actually _touching_ the blond, but Naruto had noticed his movements and turned to look at him. So, Gaara had a split second decision to make: continue, or retreat. His brain did the opposite of what he asked, continuing on its way to Naruto's face, even though he'd ordered it to retreat. Gaara had never hated his traitorous hand more.

Gaara's knuckles lightly grazed against Naruto's cheek, the blond's blue eyes widening in surprise at Gaara's show of affection. The redhead said nothing as he kept his eyes locked on Naruto's, moving his hand to run through the blond's hair.

Naruto was frozen as Gaara touched his face, and then his hair. He didn't know what to do, and he _definitely_ didn't want to anger the Kazekage. But this—was a little weird, to be honest. He'd always liked Gaara, he knew that, but the implications of Gaara's actions were sending Naruto's brain onto a roller coaster of confusion.

Once the Kazekage had retreated his hand, Naruto sat up with a cough, blushing as he ran his hand messily through his hair to get rid of all the snow. "The delegates are probably wondering where we are. It wouldn't do for you to be caught playing in the snow."

Naruto stood and held his hand out to Gaara. The redhead didn't know what to make of it. Naruto obviously wasn't entirely comfortable with what had happened, but he hadn't outright rejected him, either. What did that mean?

"Hey, how about when this is all done, we head back to Konoha and have some ramen together?" Naruto flung his arm around Gaara's shoulder. "Just you and me."

"I'm the Kazekage." Gaara replied slowly. "I must return home once this is done."

"Home shmome." Naruto waved his free hand about, the other still wrapped around Gaara's shoulders. "Fine. I'll go back to Suna with you, and _you_ can buy _me_ ramen, ne? Ne?" Naruto grinned at Gaara and the redhead had to smile back.

When Naruto smiled, everything was okay in the world. When he smiled, Gaara always felt better. And with that particular smile, he felt reassured, for although he didn't know whether their relationship could progress, at least he knew Naruto was and always would be his friend.

**END.**


	18. Turn It Up

#17)  
Requested by: Lex  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto  
Situation: Sasuke and Naruto meet at a concert.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: Hehe, I had wayyyyyyyy too much fun with this one. :3 Hope you enjoy!**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

_Great, just great,_ Sasuke Uchiha thought with a sigh as he pushed himself through the large crowd of people around him. _I **knew** Neji and I were going to get separated, and now, I'll never fucking find him._

Sasuke growled as he wrenched his arm free from a screaming girl. Whether she was screaming over him, or the singer on-stage, Sasuke didn't know, nor did he particularly care. He'd only agreed to come see Gackt in concert because he loved the man's music. Of course, he'd failed to remember that the place would be packed with rabid fangirls who were only there to watch Gackt make out with his bandmates, or pick up hot, bi-sexual men.

Sasuke himself was gay, so he wasn't looking to pick up any women, but that didn't mean they weren't trying to pick _him_ up. Sometimes, he loathed being good-looking. But then again, the raven couldn't lie. His motive for coming wasn't only for Gackt's music. Other gay men like him were around, as well as a few bi-sexual ones. Sasuke wanted to pick someone up, too.

So far, though, his luck had been low. All the guys he'd seen were either here with their girlfriends, or really not worth his time. He hadn't found a _single_ person to have a freaky night with, and he was starting to think he'd have to go home with Neji again. It wasn't that he didn't like Neji Hyuuga, he did. It was just—they were best friends, and every time they got freaky to relieve some tension, the next few days were awkward. He hated that.

As the song changed and the lights went out, a split second before the entire area went dark, Sasuke noticed a pair of bright blue eyes looking in his direction. He had just enough time to notice it was a guy before they were thrown into darkness.

_Oh, potential candidate?_ Sasuke thought as he made his way blindly through the crowd, waiting for the lights to turn back on so he could check out the boy who'd been staring at him. As soon as the next song started—which Sasuke idly noted was _Vanilla_—the lights turned back on and he was four people away from the blue eyes that had been staring at him.

Sasuke grinned as he approached the boy. _Ladies and gentlemen, we have a winner._ If the blue eyes hadn't won him over, the blond hair, toned body and tanned skin would've. This was _exactly_ what Sasuke was looking for, and he pushed through the last person to stand beside the boy.

The blond turned to him and smiled, his eyes obviously looking Sasuke up and down. The raven grinned, knowing this boy was, at the very least, bi-sexual.

"You here with anyone?" Sasuke asked, leaning close to speak right into his ear to be heard over the screaming of the fans.

"Yeah, her." The blond motioned a pink-haired girl who was screaming at the top of her lungs. "She's my best friend."

Sasuke grinned. "I meant relationship-wise." Sasuke breathed. The blond shivered and shook his head.

"Not unless you count."

Pleased with this response, Sasuke moved behind the blond and wrapped his arms around his waist, the two of them swaying in time to the music.

"What's your name?" Sasuke breathed in the other boy's ear.

"Naruto, you?"

"Sasuke."

"Nice to meet you, Sasuke." The blond turned and grinned at him.

Sasuke smirked as he tightened his hold on the blond, grinding his pelvis into Naruto's backside. The blond let out a moan, which was covered by the crowd screaming around them. He leaned back into Sasuke, a smirk on his face.

His friend chose that moment to turn and look at Naruto, only to smirk as she noticed him getting freaky with some guy. She was slightly jealous, since the raven behind her best friend was attractive, but chances were if he was grinding into Naruto right now, it was because he wasn't into women.

"Who's your friend, Uzumaki?" the girl teased.

"Piss off, Haruno. Can't you see I'm busy?" Naruto panted, his hands going back around his body to grab Sasuke's ass and force him to grind harder.

"Yeah, yeah, you ungrateful swine." Sakura Haruno reached into her bag and pulled out a condom and some lube, practically shoving them down the front of her best friend's pants. "Have fun. Don't forget you have to drive me home, so don't you _dare_ leave without me."

"Sure." Naruto panted, throwing his head back against Sasuke's shoulder. The raven grinned.

"Should I get those?" Sasuke's left hand lowered, dipping just beneath the blond's jeans, running his fingers across the smooth skin there.

"Maybe." Naruto grinned. "Or maybe we should find someplace more private, first."

"Sounds like a plan." Sasuke pulled away and grabbed the blond's hand, pulling him through the crowd. He wasn't letting him get away, not now.

Sasuke smirked as the end of _Vanilla_ was sung and the lights went out again. He tightened his hold on the other boy's hand to ensure they didn't lose one another in the darkness. _I hope Neji's found someone, _Sasuke thought with a smirk as he pushed out of the concert hall, heading towards the bathroom with Naruto. _Because I'm going to be nice and happy when **I** go home._

**END.**


	19. For the Love of Foxes

#18)  
Requested by: Nocena T. Calamus  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto.  
Situation: Sasuke finds himself being followed and harassed by a little fox, and he doesn't know why. Sasuke hates animals, and absolutely despises foxes. He tries to make the fox go away, but it won't, and the more he abuses it, the friendlier it gets. Later, when Sasuke starts to feel friendly with the fox, it suddenly disappears, and he doesn't know why.  
Specifics: Sasuke must be exceptionally cruel to the fox, to the point where you hate him for it.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**A/N: This one was really fun to write. I hope you like it!**

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

"Where's Naruto?" Uchiha Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms as he leaned back against the bridge railing. "He's late."

"Yeah. When you're later than Kakashi-sensei, something weird is up." Haruno Sakura agreed, looking over at their perverted sensei.

Hatake Kakashi ignored them both as he flipped the page of his dirty novel, reading it, totally unconcerned with Naruto's absence. The blond had probably overslept or something, so it wasn't the end of the world if he didn't show up. Then again, the fact that he was the Nine-tails was concerning Kakashi a bit, because Naruto's absence could mean a number of things.

Sighing, the perverted sensei closed his book with a snap and replaced it in his pouch, jumping off the railing he'd been standing on. "Come on, we should go check out his place."

"Ew, I don't want to go in there." Sakura crinkled her nose as Kakashi headed in the direction Naruto's apartment. Sasuke followed without a word, causing Sakura to sigh and run after them.

The three of them reached Naruto's apartment quickly, and Kakashi opened the unlocked door, walking into the small apartment. Sakura refused to go inside once she saw how messy it was, but Sasuke wasn't going to stay outside with her, so he followed Kakashi inside. The two of them looked around for the blond, but he was nowhere to be found.

It was two minutes later, when Sasuke was inspecting the blond's kitchen, that he found the hastily scrawled note taped to the fridge. He pulled it off and snorted before calling to Kakashi.

"The dobe went to Sand to train." Sasuke held the sheet out towards Kakashi so he could read it. "He didn't want to tell us because he was scared I would follow him and try and surpass him."

The raven snorted as Kakashi took the sheet of paper. He then shoved his hands in his pockets and walked towards the door. He was going home. Without Naruto, Tsunade wouldn't send them on any good missions, and he wasn't going to stick around to weed an old lady's garden, or something.

He brushed past Sakura and made his way home as quickly as he could, escaping from the pink-haired girl before she could attach herself to his arm and drag him off somewhere. He didn't slow until he reached the boundary of the Uchiha Clan estate, jumping off the nearest roof and walking calmly through the archway. He walked down the desolate streets with his hands in his pockets and climbed the stairs to his front door.

He froze in his steps at the sight that greeted him. Standing in front of his door, clawing at the corner to try and open it, was a fox. He was a fiery red with a few white patches along his snout and stomach, and around one of his back paws.

Sasuke's eyes narrowed as he walked up behind the fox, the animal turning upon hearing him. He grabbed the fox by the scruff of the neck and pulled him off the ground, the fox giving a loud yelp of pain. He practically hurled the fox away, watching in satisfaction as it landed on its side on the dirt ground and let out a small groan of pain.

"I hate animals." the Uchiha muttered as he turned back to his door and entered his house. "Especially foxes." he slammed the door behind himself.

He was never really sure why he hated foxes. He supposed it had to do with all the stories his father used to tell him about the Nine-Tails to scare him into behaving. Ever since he was a kid, he'd hated foxes. He used to kill them sometimes, but Itachi had caught him, once, and told him it wasn't appropriate. Sasuke was almost tempted to go back out there and kill that damn fox, just to spite his brother, even though the eldest Uchiha wasn't there.

Sasuke climbed the stairs to head to his bedroom to clean it. Opening the door, he froze in his steps as he noticed the fox sitting on his windowsill outside, staring in at him through the glass.

"What is that damn fox's problem?" Sasuke growled as he padded across the room. "Of all the people in Konoha, why is it bothering _me_?.!" The Uchiha threw open his window, effectively causing the fox to fall when the window hit him in the face. It fell the two stories and landed on Sasuke's steps, letting out a loud whine as it landed.

Sasuke stared down at it dispassionately, hoping he broke a few of the damn animal's limbs. He smiled with satisfaction as it tried to stand, only to whine and fall back down, one of its front paws held off the ground.

"Stay away from my house, you damn rodent." Sasuke grumbled as he closed his window.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

As the days continued, every time Sasuke returned home from a D-rank mission with Sakura and Kakashi, he found that damn animal at his front door. It didn't seem to get the hint. It was like the more Sasuke abused it, the more it came back.

Sasuke had tried everything to get rid of it. He'd kicked it around, he'd thrown it off his roof, he'd even gone so far as sticking it in his freezer for a couple of hours, but the damn thing just kept coming back like a bad smell! Sasuke was beginning to lose his patience.

A week and a half after first seeing the fox, Sasuke walked home from a particularly annoying mission. They'd had to plow one of the old farmer's fields, and Sasuke was absolutely covered in dirt and grime. And, to top it off, it had started to rain. Sasuke was just about ready to kill something.

And, walking home and seeing that damn fox on his doorstep _certainly_ didn't improve his mood. He stomped up his stairs and violently kicked the fox to the end of his porch, the animal slamming into the railing.

"You stupid, God damn animal! Go away!" he hollered angrily. "How hard is it for you to understand that I _hate_ you?.! Go away!" Sasuke slammed into his house angrily.

The raven went to his room and stripped before jumping into the shower to warm himself up, and wash all the dirt off himself. Ten minutes later, and he was good as new, pulling on a pair of black sweatpants before going downstairs to make himself something to eat.

He looked out the window and smirked slightly as he noticed it had started to pour while he was in the shower. It was pretty cold outside already, so with the rain, the fox was going to freeze to death. _If I'm lucky, the damn thing will die, and I won't have to deal with it anymore._

Sasuke walked into his kitchen and made himself some food. He ate it in silence, not even turning on the television for some entertainment. Once he was done, he washed his dishes and headed back for his room, when he froze. It was still pouring outside, and he could hear the fox whimpering. He didn't know why, but he hated the fox as much as he hated Naruto, and the damn animal reminded him of the blond. Right now, shivering and whimpering outside—he could just _see_ Naruto doing something like that. It was just the kind of thing he would do.

_Guess they're both crazy, stupid, pathetic animals,_ Sasuke smirked as he continued on his way to the room. He heard thunder crack above and the fox let out a loud yelp. Despite wanting to keep moving, Sasuke froze again. His mind flashed back to when he was young and used to be scared of thunder, too. Even though this was a fox, and he was a human, he still felt bad.

_I know I'm going to regret this, _Sasuke sighed as he turned around and headed for the door. He pulled it open only to have the fox squeak and take a step back, shivering, wet, and staring up at Sasuke in fear.

"Come on." Sasuke motioned him in. The fox didn't move. "Well, are you coming, or not?" he snapped.

The fox hesitantly took a step forward, still looking up at Sasuke. The Uchiha sighed and bent down, grabbing the fox in his arms before it could run off. He closed the door and walked through the house with the wet fox, wincing as the wet fur rubbed against his bare torso. He walked into his bathroom and grabbed one of his towels, closing the door to stop the struggling fox from running through his house.

"Calm down, will you?" he muttered. "If you're so scared of me, why do you stick around all the time?"

He put the fox down in his tub and ran the hot water. He made sure it wasn't scalding and gently coaxed the fox towards the tap. When he finally got it under the water, he rubbed the dirt and cold water out of its coat until he was satisfied that it wouldn't dirty his place. He turned the water off and dried it with his spare towel, throwing it in the hamper once he was done.

He didn't know what foxes ate, so he just offered it some chicken he had in his fridge and a bowl of water. He didn't really know why he was taking care of the damn thing all of a sudden, but he figured it might've been because it was nice coming home and finding someone waiting for him.

He hadn't realized how much he'd missed it until the third time he'd seen the fox on his doorstep. Maybe—the fox was going to be around for a while. Sasuke supposed he could let it stay with him until it decided to leave.

So, later that night, when he went to bed, the fox was still in the house. It found its way into his room and jumped onto his bed, very much like a cat would do.

"No." Sasuke gently shoved it off the bed. "You sleep on the floor."

He should've known by now how stubborn the fox was, because the second he hit the floor, he jumped back onto the bed. Sasuke pushed him off again, but he jumped up _again_. The Uchiha groaned.

"You're a persistent little bastard, aren't you?" he grumbled as the fox made himself comfortable near Sasuke's head. He lay down, tucking his face into his tail and began to doze off. Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. There was no way he was going to get rid of this fox, now.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Time went on, and after about a month with the fox, Sasuke had begun to really enjoy its company. He'd debated whether or not to name it, but after a while, he'd decided he wanted to keep it around, so a name was mandatory. It had taken him close to an hour to find a name he was happy with, and he'd finally settled with 'Kyuubi,' just because it was the only name he knew suited a fox because of the Nine-Tails.

Every day, when he got home from his missions, the fox was waiting for him outside the front door. Sasuke didn't know how the fox even got outside, since he always left him in the house when he disappeared in the morning, but it always managed to get out. Not that he minded, really, it was nice to have someone so eager to see him.

That was why after that entire month of always seeing the fox on his doorstep, he was a little concerned when he reached his house one day to find it not waiting for him. Shrugging, he just entered the house, kicking off his sandals.

"Kyuubi?" he called.

He expected to hear the patter of paws rushing towards the door. Sometimes, the fox fell asleep, but usually, that was when Sasuke went out at night, not when he came back from training or D-rank missions.

He heard no patter.

He frowned and walked further into the house, calling the fox's name and snapping his fingers. He used to snap his fingers to get Kyuubi to come to where he was, but even _that_ had no effect. The fox was nowhere to be found, and for one, horrifying moment, Sasuke thought maybe something had happened to it.

Then, reality set in, and he realized it had probably just left. It had gone home to its family, or whatever. It had left Sasuke.

**----------------------------------------------------------------------------**

Naruto returned from Sand a few days later looking pretty beat up. Sakura had laughed and asked if he'd gotten his ass handed to him by Gaara, but Naruto had just snapped at her. Sasuke had been surprisingly quiet, and this concerned Naruto.

"Oi, teme, what's up with you?"

"Nothing." Sasuke snapped, staring down into the water that ran under the bridge.

"You didn't make fun of me."

"My life doesn't revolve around you." he stated dryly.

Naruto and Sakura shared a look at his answer, not understanding why he was acting like that.

Kakashi arrived a few minutes later, and realized the same thing the other two had. Something was wrong with Sasuke, but he refused to talk about it. He went about training as usual. He sparred with Naruto, he did his D-rank mission, and then, he told them he was heading home.

As he said the word 'home,' Naruto noticed a sad look cross the raven's features as he turned around to head back to the Uchiha estate.

Naruto waved after the sad Uchiha, feeling bad for the other boy. After all, Sasuke never showed emotion, so seeing him sad like this was worrying the blond. He didn't like seeing that expression on Sasuke's face.

"Hey, Sakura?" The pink-haired girl turned to him, wary. She didn't want to get asked out on a date again. "Will you tell Kakashi-sensei and Sasuke I'm going back to Sand?"

"Huh?" Sakura was confused. "What for?"

"Eh, Gaara, you know?" Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "I'm his only friend. He was sad I left, so I'm gonna head back to see him."

"Oh. Okay." Sakura shrugged and turned, leaving Naruto alone.

The blond walked off into the forest surrounding the training grounds and looked around before bringing his hands up to his face.

"I can't believe I'm doing this _willingly_. I better not get stuck as that damn animal like last time." Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated his chakra before forming a hand seal. Seconds later, he poofed out of existence, and where he'd once stood now sat a small, fiery red fox. With a sigh, the fox shook its little head and walked out of the woods, heading towards Sasuke's house.

The last time Naruto had done this, he'd been half-way to Sand. It had been an accident, really. He'd been trying to make up a new jutsu and ended up turning into a fox. He hadn't been able to turn back, and the only person he knew who could help him was Sasuke. He didn't know where Kakashi lived, and he didn't know where Sakura lived. He would've gone around the village looking for them after the way Sasuke treated him, but the villagers hated foxes even more than the Uchiha.

He'd been about to give up on Sasuke when he realized a few things about him. The raven was sad, and lonely, but he didn't want to tell anyone. He didn't want to let anyone know how he felt. That was why he'd stayed, for even though Sasuke had treated him horribly, he hadn't been alone.

And then, Sasuke had started being nicer. And just when Naruto was all right with living as a fox with Sasuke for the rest of his life, he'd changed back. He'd been really happy, but seeing his dejected teammate made him feel bad. So, there he was, now standing in front of Sasuke's house, his small tail swishing from side to side as he stared at it.

_All right, Naruto, _he thought with a small sigh. _Just for a little while. Once a week or something. Just make sure he knows he's not alone._

Naruto walked up to the door and nudged it with his nose. It was closed, not left slightly open as usual. He began pawing at the door to get it to open, and was startled when it flew open hurriedly. Sasuke was staring down at him with red-rimmed eyes. Naruto almost had a heart attack. Uchiha Sasuke? _The_ Uchiha Sasuke?.! He knew how to _cry_?.!

"Kyuubi." he whispered down to the fox. Naruto moved forward and rubbed his head against Sasuke's calf, much like a cat would.

The Uchiha fell to his knees and picked the fox up, hugging him tightly. Naruto winced inwardly, but just licked at Sasuke's closest hand.

"I thought you left me." Sasuke whispered. "I guess I shouldn't be selfish, you probably have a family or something out in the forest. But I hope you still visit me."

The fox let out a small yip before wiggling out of Sasuke's grip and running into the house. Sasuke smirked as he closed the door and chased after it.

_Yeah,_ Naruto thought as he pushed himself under the couch. _I think once a week, for one day, the two of us can relish the fact that we have a friend. _

**END.**


	20. Bad Hair Day

#19)  
Requested by: Felixia  
Characters: All seven.  
Situation: A hairdresser/barber (a woman) comments on all of her customers, talks about their confessions, and bitches about some of them.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

-------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: I did this in first person because, well, it makes my life less complicated. :sweatdrop: Yeah, so, I hope you like it.**

-------------------------------------------------------------

Having my job is not the easiest thing in the world. You have to understand, I spend my time cutting people's hair, this is true, but nobody considers the emotional trauma I go through with some of my customers.

I'm serious! You might be sitting there, laughing or rolling your eyes, but being a haidresser is _not_ the easiest thing in the world. Not only do you have to sometimes touch gross, filthy, _disgusting_ hair, but you have to listen to the customers bitch and complain!

Let's take the Kyuubi-vessel, for instance. Uzumaki Naruto. Now, I'm not one of those people who particularly cares that he has the Nine-tailed demon fox in him. It's not his fault, he was just a kid, whatever. Not that big of a deal to me. But _shit_! That kid, from the moment he comes in, to the moment he leave—_he never stops **talking**!_

The whole time, it's just yak, yak, yak, yak, yak. It gets to the point where I want to rip my hair out! He's a great kid, and really funny, but the incessant, non-stop talking gets on your nerves! And it's always the same thing! About how he's better than his teammate, labelled "Sasuke-teme." How he's going to be Hokage, and nobody will ever look down on him again.

The first time I heard him say it, I thought it was cute. The second time, it was a little repetitive, but you know, bearable. The fiftieth time, I was ready to cut my ears off with my own scissors. I've lost count now how many times I've heard the speech, but I know I can probably recite it by heart. No joke.

And then, there's the less talkative customers, like one Uchiha Sasuke, sole survivor of the Uchiha Clan Massacre. He walks in, says he wants a haircut, and sits down with his arms crossed. Even if I smile and ask how he is, or even tell him to follow me straight away, he _still_ sits down, saying nothing, and crosses his arms. I always have to calm myself down before I talk to him, otherwise, I'll snap.

And his attitude isn't even the worst part, _oh no_! It's his _hair_. You know how there's those people—you know, _those_ people. The ones who use so much hair-gel and hair-spray, it's a wonder the ozone layer hasn't upped and died on us? Well—he's _worse_ than them. He must use two entire gel containers to get his hair the way he wants it. I spend about twenty minutes shampooing his hair to get rid of the bloody stuff, and even _then_, it's still there! It's _disgusting_ to touch!

Sometimes, I swear, he doesn't wash his hair. I mean, how _can_ he? He wouldn't have the patience to wash it every day! I think he just showers, lets the water soak his hair, but doesn't really wash it, and then exits the shower. Once he's dry, he grabs his hair-gel, and adds _more_ of the disgusting stuff to his hair! That's why it takes me forever to get the damn shit out of his hair when he comes to see me! Maybe he just likes to make me _suffer_!

But worse than the Uchiha is Hyuuga Neji, one of the most highly respected clans in Konoha. He's a little bit more _polite_ than the Uchiha. He comes to the counter, asking me if I'm available to cut his hair. Upon receiving a positive reply, he nods and sits to wait, or follows me straight away when I motion him forward.

Now the thing that bothers me most about Hyuuga Neji: he sheds. I don't know about you, but shedding is _gross_. It's okay if I get hair all over my hands while I'm cutting it, because I know how much I'm cutting and where I'm going to get it. With him—you run your fingers through his hair while you're washing it, and come back with a huge clump of hair. It's like The Grudge gone wrong. It's disgusting.

And, to top it off, if the shedding wasn't bad, then the _fucking_ tangles are! He sits down in the chair with his damp, freshly washed hair. Then—I pull out my brush, and snarl. I attack his hair viciously, but nothing seems to get rid of the tangles. It's like, every time I undo _one_ tangle, three more pop up to rebel against me! I can't win with him!

I usually just give up and end up cutting his hair, tangles and all. I try to make it as even as possible, but a girl can only do so much. Honestly. Seriously.

And then, there's that creepy foreigner. The one called Sabaku no Gaara. The weirdo with the love tattoo on his forehead. He's just scary.

He's friends with annoyance number one, Uzumaki, and he recommended me. I almost wet myself the first time he came in. "Cut my hair. Do it right, or I'll kill you." I mean, _who says that?._! It's just _hair_! If I screw up, it's okay, it'll grow back! My _life_, on the other hand, is a one-time thing! That doesn't just _grow back_!

So, shaking and almost in tears, I cut the guy's hair. He liked it, I thanked the high holy heavens that I was going to live to see another day—and then he told me he'd be back once a month. I almost quit on the spot. Every month, it's the same thing. "Cut my hair. Do it right, or I'll kill you." So, every month, there I am, shaking and close to tears, cutting the psycho's hair. I don't get paid enough for this job! And the bastard doesn't even _tip_!

But I think one of my _worst_ customers has to be from the Inuzuka Clan. Inuzuka Kiba. The Inuzuka's frequent my shop, they're all nice shinobi, very kind. And they're all _clean_. All except that one.

He'll come in fresh from some mission and just plop down in a chair, asking for a haircut! Right out of a mission! He can be bloody, sweaty, dirty, covered in mud, and he _dares_ to sit on one of _my_ chairs like that! His hair is full of dirt, dried blood, tangles and twigs. I stare at his hair, and don't know where to start. So, I usually try and pick out the twigs, then I wash his hair, then I brush it, and _then_ I finally cut it. He usually takes almost an hour, and I almost always want to turn him away. But, I can't. Because his mother is so awesome, and she tips me so well. Then again, this Kiba also tips me very well, which is probably the only reason I put up with him.

I think he feels bad for being so messy when he comes to see me, but honestly, I don't think I've ever really seen him clean. Maybe his mother doesn't believe he needs to bathe?

Oh, and don't even get me started on that damn Nara Shikamaru. That boy is so—and I quote!—_troublesome_! Every sentence he says _has_ to have that word! It's like, "mendokuse" this and "mendokuse" that! You just want to grab him by the troat, shake him, and forget to let go until he falls to the ground dead!

_And_, he doesn't let me take out his ponytail when I cut his hair! I'll never forget my reaction the first time I heard that. I thought I'd gone insane and was hearing voices. But no, he repeated it. He didn't want me to take out his ponytail because putting his hair back up would be too _troublesome_. So, every time he comes, I wash his hair with the ponytail, mutter and curse as I _cut_ his hair with the ponytail, and then blow-dry his hair with the ponytail. I always offer to put it back up for him, but he says I wouldn't do it right. I want to strangle him.

Another annoyance is this Rock Lee character. First off, he _waltzes_ in. He doesn't walk, or stomp, or bounce, or anything else that's at least semi _normal_. He waltzes. Full on dancing into the shop, before stopping in front of me, one hand on his hip, the other giving me a thumbs up. He winks, smiles, and says something I still don't understand. Actually, I don't ever really understand _anything_ he says. I just know he wants a haircut, because otherwise, he wouldn't have entered my shop, right?

He just sits down in my chair, blabbering something or other about youth, spring and beauty. Personally, I don't know how he became a shinobi with _that_ kind of talk. Don't shinobi, like—kill, or something? He's too—happy. And bubbly. I don't know, he freaks me out. I want to cry sometimes he freaks me out so bad. I just—I don't understand him!

On the other hand, there are _some_ people I rather enjoy—like Hatake Kakashi. Ever wonder why his hair looks the way it does? Well, how can I pay attention to what I'm cutting if I'm reading his book over his shoulder?.!

**END.**


	21. Enough Is Enough

#20)  
Requested by: bitchy-bitch  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto  
Situation: Sasuke keeps trying to ask Naruto out, but they always get interrupted by something or another.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

-------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: I kind of made it Sasuke telling Naruto he loved him, because it's hard to just ask someone out before you admit that you like them. :sweatdrop:**

-------------------------------------------------------------

Uchiha Sasuke leaned back against one of the lampposts just outside Uzumaki Naruto's house on a bright, sunny morning. He looked left, then right, before focusing back on the apartment building before him, waiting for the blond.

It had been close to three years since the raven had realized he had feelings for his blond teammate, and now, he was going to do something about it. He'd spent all week psyching himself up, and the entire night before planning out his speech. He knew exactly what to say for every comeback the blond might throw at him. No matter _what_ Naruto said, Sasuke was going to date him. That was final.

And so, that was why the raven was currently standing outside his apartment building instead of waiting for him at the bridge. He knew Hatake Kakashi wouldn't be there to interrupt his speech, but Haruno Sakura was _always_ early, and she'd get there before Naruto. Sasuke couldn't have her around while he spewed his heart out. This was the only alternative.

Sasuke straightened and pulled his hands out of his pockets as Naruto appeared, heading towards the street—and the Uchiha. The blond froze and narrowed his eyes as he saw his rival.

"What are you doing here, teme?" he asked uncertainly.

"Naruto, there's something I have to tell you." Sasuke walked forward, clenching his fists and stealing himself. _This is it,_ he thought. _This is—_

"Sasuke-kun!"

—_a nightmare_. Sasuke sighed as Sakura threw herself at him, attaching herself to his arm.

"What are you doing here? I overslept this morning, and I thought I was going to be late."

"Hi, Sakura-chan!" Naruto called with a big, goofy grin as he waved.

The pink-haired girl turned to him, annoyed. "Hi."

"Teme, what was it you wanted to tell me?" Naruto asked as he came up to his two teammates.

"Nothing. Let's go." Sasuke pulled free from Sakura and turned, making his way towards the bridge.

_Of course, the **one** day I plan this to be perfect, Sakura has to oversleep. God hates me._ Sasuke sighed, shaking his head again. This was going to be a nightmare. Seriously. How was he supposed to get Naruto alone _now_?

As the three of them stood on the bridge, waiting for their sensei, Sasuke thought of something. If he asked Kakashi-sensei to spar today, he'd be put with the dobe, and he could talk to him then. Sure, Kakashi and Sakura would be close by, but not nearly close enough to hear them. It was brilliant.

That was why when the Jounin appeared, before Sakura and Naruto could holler at him for being late, Sasuke spoke.

"Kakashi-sensei, can we train today?" he blurted out. All three stared at him like he was crazy.

"Sasuke asked Kakashi-sensei for help." Naruto whispered to Sakura. The pink-haired girl hit him across the head.

"Why would you want to train, Sasuke?" Kakashi inquired, putting away his orange novel and regarding his student with confusion.

"I feel like we haven't been sparring enough. Besides," he smirked at Naruto, "I haven't kicked the dobe's ass in a while."

"Teme!" Naruto hollered angrily. "Just you wait, this time, I'll kick _your_ ass!"

"I'd like to see you try!"

"Gah! Kakashi-sensei! Can we train?.! I want to show Sasuke he's weak!" Naruto hollered, pointing one finger at the Uchiha.

Kakashi just smirked beneath his mask, eying said Uchiha with interest. _What have you got up your sleeve, Sasuke?_ The raven ignored his look and Kakashi just chuckled.

"Fine, fine. I'll cancel our missions and we can train. All of you head towards the training grounds. I'll meet you there."

The Jounin teleported away and the three students headed towards the training grounds, just like he'd instructed. He was already there by the time they arrived and he began to call Sakura over, when he paused.

"Sasuke?" The Uchiha turned to him, he and Naruto having already started to head across the large area to fight. "I want to spar with you today."

Sasuke almost fell over. "What?.! Why?.!"

"Kakashi-sensei!" Naruto agreed angrily. "I want to kick teme's ass! You can't spar with him!"

"Sasuke has gotten more powerful. I just want to see how he matches up against me." Kakashi smiled, his one visible eye curving. "Come on, Sasuke. Sakura, you and Naruto head over there."

The Uchiha grumbled the whole time he headed towards Kakashi. He was going to make the grey-haired man suffer for this, _that_ was for sure.

Three hours later, training was over. Even though they'd switched partners on occasion, Kakashi hadn't let Naruto and Sasuke spar, insisting they did all the time and needed a change. Sasuke had been just about ready to rip out his hair.

Once training had ended and he'd gotten rid of Sakura, he chased after the blond, who was heading home. "Hey, dobe!"

"Don't call me that, teme!" Naruto hollered, spinning around and shaking his fist at the raven. Sasuke just smirked, his hands in his pockets.

"Want ramen? My treat."

"Ramen?" Naruto asked, his eyes widening with surprise. "Sure!" He bounced towards the Uchiha, then paused, eying him warily. "Wait a second—why are you being so nice?"

"Tch." Sasuke turned on his heel, walking towards Ichiraku, knowing the other boy would follow. "I'm not being nice. I just want to talk to you, and I figure ramen is the only way to get you to listen."

"Heh, you know me too well." Naruto threw one arm around Sasuke with a grin, giving him a somewhat sideways hug before releasing him and placing both hands behind his head, grinning widely. Sasuke just smiled.

They got to Ichiraku and Naruto ordered his ramen, Sasuke merely asking for a cup of green tea. Once it arrived, he held it between his hands, staring down into it.

"Naruto, there's something I have to tell you." Sasuke swallowed hard, building up his courage. "Um, it's something I've been meaning to tell you for a while now."

"Hm?" The blonde cocked his head to the side, confused. "What is it, teme?"

"Well..." Sasuke trailed off, taking a deep breath. "Naruto, I—"

"Naruto!"

"Iruka-sensei!" Sasuke fell out of his chair, wanting to cry.

"What are you doing here?" Umino Iruka smiled at his favourite student. "And with Sasuke. Hi, Sasuke. Are you all right?" He helped the Uchiha up, Naruto chuckling at the raven having fallen off the stool.

"Fine." he grumbled as he retook his seat.

The entire time they were at Ichiraku, Iruka remained with them, much to Sasuke's annoyance. As they stood to leave, though, Iruka said he'd stay and talk to Ayame for a little while, the girl who worked the ramen stand. Sasuke saw another opportunity, walking home with Naruto. He could tell him then.

"So, about what I've been trying to tell you." Sasuke cut to the chase. "Naruto—"

"Ha! _There_ you are, Naruto!" Sasuke's eye twitched as he heard Inuzuka Kiba's voice, the other shinobi wrapping one arm around Naruto's shoulders. "I've been looking for you. Hey, do you—"

"That is _it_!" Sasuke hollered angrily, almost hysterically. "The next person to interrupt me while I'm trying to talk to Naruto is going to get a kunai up the ass!" he screamed as loud as he could, waving a kunai about, all the nearby villagers staring at him horrified. They all hurried away from the panting Uchiha, his rage still pouring off him in waves. Naruto, himself, kind of wanted to run. Kiba had already disappeared.

"Honestly, it's like nobody wants me to fucking tell you!" Sasuke exclaimed angrily, grabbing the blond's wrist.

"Wha—Sasuke! Oi! Let go, what are you doing?.!"

"We're going to my place. I can't take any more interruptions!" Sasuke growled.

The two of them made it to the Uchiha's house within five minutes, Sasuke practically pushing Naruto onto the couch as he stood in front of him. The blond looked really worried.

"All right." Sasuke leaned forward, bracing his hands against the wall on either side of the blond's head as Naruto leaned back further into the couch. "I'm going to tell you something I've wanted to tell you for three years." Sasuke glared hard into Naruto's eyes, the blond terrified Sasuke was about to kill him. "I love you."

Naruto blinked. "You what?"

"I love you."

The blond stared at him. "Like—brotherly love?"

"No. I mean—I love you like you love Sakura."

"Oh." Naruto replied, a smile on his face. "Cool."

"I don't care if you don't like me!" Sasuke hollered, making Naruto jump. "I love you, and I'm not going to give up on you until you say you love me back!"

"Uh, Sasuke?"

"I don't care!" Sasuke hollered again. "I'll _make_ you mine!"

"Sasuke." Naruto's eyebrow twitched in annoyance.

"You have no idea how long I've—"

"Teme!" Naruto hollered in his face, effectively shutting Sasuke up. "I said 'cool'! Where did all this blabbering come from?.!" he demanded. "And if you just need to _hear_ it to shut up, I love you, too! Kami knows why seeing as how you're such a psycho, but I do." Naruto crossed his arms.

Sasuke blinked at him. "You-you do?"

"Yes. I do."

"Oh." Sasuke grinned. "Cool."

"Hey—you did hear me!" Naruto accused, before his lips were suddenly covered by the raven's. He let himself melt into the kiss, deciding to yell at the idiot later.

After all, Naruto had loved Sasuke for _four_ years.

**END.**


	22. Torn

#21)  
Requested by: blue-genjutsu  
Characters: Naruto and Sasuke  
Situation: Sasuke has killed both his brother and Orochimaru and returns to the leaf in order to revive his clan. However, Sai and Naruto have gotten extremely close and Sasuke realizes he's jealous. Now, he's torn between reviving his clan, or being with Naruto.  
Pairings: SasuNaru  
Spoilers: Yes, kind of. It's about Sakura.

-----------------------------------

**A/N: Hope you like it, and it's up to par!**

-----------------------------------

Uchiha Sasuke sneered across the bar as he watched Baikan Sai and Uzumaki Naruto talk and laugh. The blond was leaning heavily against the ANBU, and Sasuke found himself growling before taking another long swallow of his beer, wiping his mouth across the back of his hand. He continued to glare across the bar, ignoring the person who'd sat down beside him, staring at him worriedly.

"Sasuke-kun, maybe you should talk to him." Haruno Sakura whispered. "If his friendship with Sai bothers you that much, I'm sure he'll do something to make it better."

"It's not his friendship that bothers me." Sasuke growled. "It's the _relationship_."

Sakura cocked an eyebrow. "They're not dating, if _that's_ what you mean." She rolled her eyes. "Besides, aren't you the one who asked me to come here in order to help you find a _woman_ who can help you revive your clan? I could've been spending the evening with Lee." She crossed her arms, annoyed.

"I _do_ want to find a woman." Sasuke grumbled, throwing a glare at a girl who gave him a sexy look. She squeaked and rushed away, Sakura rolling her eyes.

"Yeah, you're doing an amazing job." she informed. "Why won't you just admit women don't interest you?"

"Regardless of that fact, I still need to revive my clan." Sasuke grit his teeth and broke the glass he was holding, he'd clenched it so hard. Sai had just licked something off Naruto's cheek.

Sakura watched the anger waves roll off Sasuke before sighing and leaning closer to him. "You know, there's really no point in trying to revive your clan when you obviously love someone who can't help you with that."

"I don't love that dobe." Sasuke snapped, shaking out his hand. Glass shards had embedded themselves in his skin, but he ignored them. "I just don't like it when he ignores me."

"So the way you broke that glass when Sai licked his cheek—that's just normal, right?" Sakura teased, a pleasant smile on her face and her hands folded together beneath her chin.

"I don't know my own strength." Sakura rolled her eyes at the lame excuse.

"Please. Sasuke, are you honestly just going to let someone you love walk away from you because of something as stupid as reviving your clan?"

That was the wrong thing to say, because the pink-haired girl suddenly found herself on her back on the table, Sasuke's hand around her throat and the Uchiha glaring down at her menacingly with Sharingan eyes.

"I am the last Uchiha on the planet." he hissed at her as people around him tried to calm him down and make him let Sakura go. He ignored them. "After I die, if I don't leave an heir, the Sharingan will disappear as if it had never existed."

"Sasuke!" The raven was wrenched away from Sakura, the medic sitting up and coughing as she clutched her neck. The Uchiha locked eyes with the one who'd pulled him away, staring into angry blue eyes. "What's the matter with you?.!"

"Sakura, are you all right?" The raven's glare turned to Sai, who was helping Sakura off the table with a worried expression on his face.

"What's he got that I haven't got?.!" Sasuke demanded angrily, his red eyes snapping back to Naruto.

"Excuse me?" the blond asked, confused.

"Why does he get all your _fucking_ attention all the time?.!" Sasuke hollered.

"Okay, Sasuke, I think you're drunk." Naruto insisted. "I'm going to take you home, and—"

"I'm not drunk!" the raven hollered. "Just tell me _why_!"

"I don't even know what you're talking about!" Naruto insisted. "You're going crazy! Let me take you home!"

"I don't _want_ to go home!" Sasuke pushed past Naruto and lunged at Sai, landing a punch right in the other's face and sending them both crashing to the floor as he lost his balance.

"Sasuke!" Sakura exclaimed, turning to pull him off Sai.

Then, the ANBU kneed Sasuke in the stomach and elbowed him in the face.

"Sai! Sasuke! Stop it!" Sakura shrieked as she lost her grip on Sasuke, the two of them rolling around on the ground, fighting.

"Stop it!" Naruto hollered, trying to intervene, but not able to. "Sakura." He turned to her helplessly.

"Oh, for fuck's sake!" She stormed up to the two fighting shinobi, gathering chakra into her arms. She grabbed the back of Sasuke's shirt, and then the back of Sai's, pulling them both off the ground and away from each other. The two ravens struggled as they were held apart, but finally settled for glaring at each other.

"You are acting like children!" she hissed angrily, the bar now eerily silent. "Sasuke, if you want to revive your clan, forget about your stupid obsession. If not, then go for it. But you have to _choose_!" She turned to Sai. "And _you_, encouraging a fight. Dammit, Sai! You're ANBU. Grow up!" She dropped them both, glaring angrily. "Sai, I'm taking you home. Naruto, take Sasuke home. Now."

The blond jumped at the mention of his name and rushed to Sasuke's side, helping him stand. The Uchiha ran the back of his hand across his bloody lip before spitting on the ground, blood mixed in with his saliva. He glared at Sai, the other glaring back, but both were pulled in opposite directions as their other two teammates dragged them out of the bar through opposite doors.

"Man, Sakura was pissed." Naruto whispered, both hands behind his head as he walked down the street with Sasuke, the raven's hands shoved deep in his pockets. He was scowling at the ground, as if angry that it was even there.

"What's your beef with Sai, anyway?" Naruto turned to look at Sasuke. "You two have been out to get each other since you got back. I don't get it."

"You wouldn't." Sasuke grumbled.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Naruto demanded, his arms dropping and a vicious glare on his face. Sasuke looked at him and almost smiled. That glare was enough to make him proud.

"What would you say if I told you that the reason we hate each other is because of you?" Sasuke looked up at the cloudless sky, the stars twinkling brightly. Sasuke scowled. The stars looked so damn happy. It was pissing him off.

"Me? Why would you two possibly hate each other because of me?" Naruto asked, utterly confused.

"Maybe because we both like you." Sasuke muttered.

Naruto froze in his steps, his eyes wide. "Wait a second." He rubbed his eyes. "I thought you wanted to revive your clan."

"I do."

"Then how can you like me? I can't bear your children, you know. I'm a guy."

"I know that." Sasuke snapped, annoyed.

"Then, how is this even a problem? Sai and I aren't even dating yet, for one thing, regardless of whether or not you like me. We may both be bi-sexual, but it doesn't mean we're going to end up together."

"Yeah, right." Sasuke muttered.

"Look." Naruto sighed. "I like you, too, Sasuke. I really do. And hey, if you wanted, I would gladly give up going out with Sai to date you, but the fact of the matter is—you're hell-bent on reviving your clan. I can't help you with that, so you have to choose. Nobody can choose for you."

Naruto began walking backwards, his hands in his pockets. "I think you should continue home by yourself. Think about it. If you want to revive your clan, but you feel I'm getting in the way of that, I'll stay away from you. If, however, you change your mind and want me more than the revival of your clan, you know where I live." Naruto turned his back on Sasuke, raising one hand in the air. "Oyasumi, Sasuke."

-----------------------------------

Later that night, as Naruto lay in bed on his side, his back to his window, he thought about what he'd told Sasuke. He didn't know whether he'd just sealed his fate and would never be with him, or if he actually just helped him make the right decision. Well, the right decision in _Naruto's_ opinion, which would be being with Naruto.

The blond knew it was selfish, he knew he should have told Sasuke to forget it and just revive his clan—but he couldn't. Years of being with Sasuke had stopped him from ever being able to give him up, and that included giving him up to Orochimaru all those years ago.

As Naruto lay in bed, worried he'd never be able to talk to his best friend again, he heard his window creak open and a warm body lay down on the bed behind him. Arms wrapped themselves around him tentatively and Naruto felt someone's head burying itself between his neck and shoulder.

"Hey, dobe?" Sasuke whispered.

"What, teme?" Naruto grinned.

"How much stamina do you _really_ have?" He heard the smirk in that voice.

"Would you like to find out?" He turned to look at Sasuke.

"As a matter of fact—I would."

**END.**


	23. All That I Am

#22)  
–SPOILER, EVEN IN THE SITUATION–  
Requested by: blue-genjutsu  
Characters: Gaara and Naruto  
Situation: Gaara gives up his title as Kazekage because without Shukkaku, he doesn't deem himself strong enough. Instead, the position goes to his brother, Kankurou, and he becomes ambassador to Konoha, instead. He realizes after his death and revival that he has strong feelings for Naruto, and not in the brotherly way, so he tries to see if there's a way to make this work.  
Pairings: GaaNaru

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: OMG! I KNOW! IT'S A MIRACLE! I UPDATED THE CHALLENGE! Sorry this is taking so long! **

**Disclaimer: Apparently, everyone's stolen Kiba for me, so he's now mine. :K. Masashi glares. Sarge blows a raspberry: lol.**

**PS: You know you love Genma. You know you wish YOU had a Genma!. :nod nod:**

------------------------------------------------------------------------

Sabaku no Gaara walked through the gates of Konoha, nodding to the guards on duty. They nodded back, greeting him kindly as he walked past, heading down the street towards the Hokage tower. He stopped in his steps as he stared at it, shifting his weight uncomfortably as he held the folder in his hands.

He bowed his head sadly, thinking back on the day he used to walk through the Konoha gates escorted by ANBU and wearing his Kazekage robes. He was still powerful, of course, and he still had his automatic protection from his sand—but he couldn't keep the position of Kazekage knowing there were other stronger shinobi out there. Shinobi like his bother, Kankurou, who was now the Kazekage.

Sighing, Gaara continued on his way to the Hokage tower, greeting the people who greeted him. He was well-known in Konoha, now, mostly because of his close relationship with the Hokage. After all, the two of them _were_ best friends. It was hard for people _not_ to know him. That, and he used to be Kazekage.

"Hey Gaara." Nara Shikamaru greeted as he walked out of the Hokage tower. "Naruto's expecting you."

"Thank you." Gaara walked into the tower, climbing up to the top and walking down the corridor. He was greeted by two ANBU guards on either side of the large oak doors. Their posture alone told him who they were. The new Hyuuga heir, Neji, was on the left, and the sole surviving Uchiha was on the right.

Neither said anything as he approached, merely opening the doors for him and letting him pass. He did so without a word, the doors closing behind him.

"Gaara!" The redhead slammed back against the door as he was glomped by the Hokage, said Hokage clutching him tightly with his legs wrapped around the other man's body.

"Hello, Naruto." Gaara smiled, hugging him back.

"I missed you." The Hokage pouted as he looked up at him. "You were gone for a long time." Uzumaki Naruto pretended to sob into Gaara's shirt and the Sand shinobi couldn't help but smile.

"Sorry, Hokage-sama."

Naruto finally extracted himself from Gaara, punching him playfully in the arm. "How many times do I have to tell you it's just _Naruto_? You're my best friend, man, I don't need honorifics from you. Hell, Uchiha still calls me 'dobe'. But I retaliate by calling him teme all the time, even during ANBU meetings." Naruto snickered.

Gaara had to laugh. No matter how old Naruto got, he was still always going to be a kid at heart. Not that anyone cared, they quite liked this Naruto. He knew when to be serious, but he was also really fun to hang around. He still went to the pub every once in a while with all his childhood friends. To him, being Hokage was just a title, it wasn't something that separated him from his old life at all. If he wasn't wearing his Hokage robes, then he was just Naruto.

"So, what can I help you with today, Gaara?" Naruto plopped down on his desk with a grin. Gaara shifted uncomfortably again as he clutched the folder in his hand. It contained only one piece of paper in it. One letter. From him. This was going to be the hardest thing he'd ever done in his life.

He handed Naruto the folder and watched him as he opened it and pulled out the piece of paper, reading it. Gaara wasn't good with words, and he didn't talk enough to be able to express his feelings on the spot. So, he'd written Naruto a letter, with the help of Temari and Kankurou.

Ever since he'd been brought back by Chiyo, and told about everything Naruto had gone through and done for him—he'd realized something about the blond. They were the same, except Naruto had had friends and people who cared about him, while Gaara hadn't. And so, Naruto had decided to change all that and show Gaara that, yes, he _did_ have a friend, even if it was just one. He showed Gaara that _he_ was his friend, and the redhead had never been so happy in his life.

Now, the ex-Kazekage had lots of friends, and he was less homicidal than he used to be, but he'd never forgotten about his first ever friend. Naruto. And so, he'd decided that if he were to ever love someone, and spend the rest of his life with them—it would be Naruto.

Gaara swallowed hard, keeping his face impassive as he watched Naruto read. The blond had been smiling at first, his head bobbing from side to side. Soon, the bobbing stopped. Then, the smile began to fade a bit. Then, a frown appeared on his face. Gaara was about to turn and run.

And then, the most amazing thing happened. The frown was gone and was replaced with a soft smile as Naruto looked up from the sheet of paper. Gaara swallowed hard again but betrayed no emotion on his face as he stared at the Hokage.

"This is—wow, Gaara." Naruto rubbed the back of his head with a grin. "I'm flattered."

"And your answer?" Gaara asked as he clenched his fists, digging his nails into his palms to keep himself under control.

The Hokage smirked as he stood, walking towards Gaara and wrapping his arms around the redhead's neck. "I think—I'm willing to give it a try." He grinned before leaning forward and lightly pressing his lips against Gaara's.

The redhead smiled against the other's lips before wrapping his own arms around Naruto's waist.

Finally, at the age of twenty-four—finally, Gaara knew what it meant to truly _love_ someone.

END.

------------------------------------------------------------------------

**A/N: Omg, kill me. The sap is hurting my brain! NEED PERVERSION!. :goes off to write about Genma for a while: aaaaahhh, much better.**


	24. Beach Days

#23)  
Requested by: frauleinfrog  
Characters: All of them, almost. Rookie Nine and team Gai.  
Situation: All of them are at the beach having fun. Must include watermelon smashing and random applications of sunscreen.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

**

* * *

A/N: For my good friend Liz. I hope your birthday was awesome. **

Also, how long has it been since I updated this:sweatdrop: It'll get done, promise! I'm working on it! It's just hard what with planning my new fic and getting this done and school and life and... Ah, who am I kidding? I'm a failure! lol. Enjoy, and sorry it's short.

Disclaimer: K. Masashi banned me from entering Japan :cries:

* * *

It was just another normal day in Konoha—all right, not really. The senseis of the rookie nine had gotten together and discussed the low morale of their teams. They'd decided that perhaps a little outing would raise their spirits and, of course, Gai had to overhear them and insist he bring his team along. He'd shouted something about "youthful energy" being needed. Kakashi had wanted to show him this so-called "youthful energy" while knocking him out, but Kurenai had yelled at him. Who'd have thought she was against unnecessary violence? 

And so, that weekend, all of their training and missions had been cancelled, and the rookie nine along with team Gai found themselves at the beach. Of course, there were mixed feelings regarding this little outing. Some of them were ecstatic, while others were not.

The pale people were terrified of getting burned, like Sasuke and Neji. The two of them were hiding under their towels with growls and grumbles emitting from between their lips every once in a while. Kiba and Naruto were having a good time as they threw a frisbee back and forth, Akamaru running after it as they laughed. Hinata and Tenten were gossiping while Ino and Sakura drooled over Sasuke's half-naked form.

In general, most people were having a good time, the select few who were never happy _anyway_ grumbling about how stupid this was. Kakashi merely laughed at Sasuke's annoyance, stealing his towel before Naruto dropped a watermelon on the raven's head. It broke and caused watermelon juice to drip into his hair as the chunks fell around him, some landing on his lap. (1) Kakashi watched with amusement as Sasuke bolted after Naruto, hollering about killing him in the most slow and painful fashion imaginable.

"Ah, youth." Kakashi's smile faded as he turned to look at the arm draped around his shoulders before looking the other way at the person the arm belonged to. "You know, Kakashi, their rivalry is almost as youthful and love-filled as ours."

_Love-filled?_ Kakashi carefully reached over, picking Gai's hand up with two fingers around the other man's index and pulling it off his shoulders before stepping away.

"Kakashi! We must race! Show these students how it is to be in the springtime of our youth."

"Hm?" Kakashi turned his single visible eye towards Gai. "Did you say something?"

"Gah! My eternal rival! You've got me again!" Kakashi just sighed, shaking his head and trying to wander off, but Gai kept dragging him back, yelling about challenges, and love, and youthful energy. Kakashi was getting exasperated.

"Come, Kakashi, my eternal rival! I shall put sunscreen on your back!"

"Neji!" Lee hollered, both fists in the air.

"Absolutely not!" the Hyuuga hollered back, covering himself up further with his towel, lest Lee should actually _try_ to put sunscreen on him.

"This is so troublesome." Shikamaru sighed as he lay on his back in the sand, staring up at the clouds. Chouji was sitting beside him, eating a bag of chips and nodding. "I wonder if we can go home, now."

END.

* * *

(1) Yes, I know what watermelon smashing is, but I thought this would be more amusing :3 


	25. One Dog, Two Dogs, Three Dogs, Help!

#24)  
Requested by: Cookie  
Characters: Naruto, Sasuke and Kiba.  
Situation: Naruto and Sasuke are stuck babysitting Kakashi's dog-summons when he gets hospitalized. They won't leave until they know he's okay, so the two boys are stuck taking care of them. The problem is, they're a pain in the butt! So, they enlist the help of the only person they know who can solve their problem: Kiba.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**A/N: OMG, an update! It's a miracle. :flails arms: I really need to get this done :winces: I'm SO sorry to everyone who requested. I know I've been neglecting it :feels bad: I'll try and work harder, honest!**

**Disclaimer: I stole all of K. Masashi's art, so... they're sorta mine... right?**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto grumbled as they walked down the street. Both had their hands in their pockets, and both continued to shoot glances over their shoulders. The villagers were staring at them oddly; occasionally, a small child would point and snicker. The two boys found nothing about this funny. 

Behind them was a team of dogs, all of them singing some random song as they trudged after the two annoyed boys. They were Kakashi's summoned-dogs. They'd been following the two boys for close to four hours. Naruto was ready to go insane, Sasuke not far behind.

Hatake Kakashi had gotten injured during his last mission after having summoned his nin-dogs. They'd carried him back to Konoha and brought him to the hospital, but then, they'd refused to leave until they knew Kakashi was better. As dogs couldn't simply stay in the hospital, the doctor had called Kakashi's team to come take care of them. Sakura was away on a mission, so that left only Naruto and Sasuke.

Neither were pleased to find out they'd been called in as babysitters.

After twenty minutes of trying to convince the dogs to return home, only to be ignored, they'd sighed and left the hospital with the dogs following behind them. In all honestly, had the dogs been unable to talk, they wouldn't have been as annoying as they currently were. It was one thing to have your ears talked off, but—dogs were horrid singers.

"Will you _shut up_!" Naruto hollered angrily as he spun around. "Dammit, why can't you just poof back to wherever the hell you came from and wait for Kakashi to summon you back?!"

"Because we want to make sure he's all right." Pakkun insisted with a frown. "He's our friend."

"And you're driving us insane!" Naruto hollered before turning to Sasuke. "They're driving you insane, right?"

"Yes."

"See?! You're driving us insane!"

"Well, if you'd bring us home and let us eat and entertain ourselves or something, this wouldn't be a problem." Gunther—another one of the dogs wearing sunglasses, resembling a German Shepard—said.

Both boys shared a look before pointing at the other. "His place."

"Teme, I don't even _like_ dogs!"

"Neither do I, dobe!"

"Hey!" Bubba—one of the largest dogs present, resembling a bulldog—snapped. "We're standing right here!"

"Yeah, which is _exactly_ the problem!" Naruto tugged at his hair before pointing at the Uchiha. "My apartment is tiny compared to your behemoth of a house!"

Sasuke growled, knowing it was true. Bubba alone would take up the whole kitchen at Naruto's place. Sasuke's house really _was_ the only option.

With a growl, the Uchiha started towards his house. "Come on, dobe."

"Eh?! Why do I have to go, too?!"

"Because, this is like a mission, and we were _both_ called in, so _you_ have to stay with me."

"No way!" Naruto turned to bolt but Sasuke grabbed the back of his jacket, hauling him back. The blond let out a yelp, glaring at Sasuke.

"If I suffer, so do you. Come on."

"Oi! _Oi!_ Sasuke!" Naruto hollered as the raven dragged him towards the Uchiha compound, the dogs following.

They got inside Sasuke's house and the raven headed for the kitchen, opening the cupboards and fridge. He had nothing but cereal, milk, and vegetables. This wasn't looking good, and he was _not_ going to be going out to buy meat just for a couple of damn dogs. _Especially_ since they weren't his.

"Dammit, why did Kakashi have to get injured?" He slammed the fridge shut and leaned back against it, crossing his arms. Naruto was sitting down at the kitchen table, looking at Sasuke. "I don't imagine you have anything to feed the dogs."

"You mean other than ramen? Nope." He buried his face in his arms, which were resting on the table.

Both were silent as the dogs began singing in the living room again, Sasuke growling in annoyance. "There _has_ to be someone we can dump them on."

"Someone stupid?" Naruto snorted. "Nobody would ever willingly choose to keep dogs. The only one stupid enough to actually _want_ a dog is—"

Naruto's head snapped up as he and Sasuke locked eyes. They both bolted from the kitchen, rushing into the living room. They ushered the dogs towards the front door before running out, heading in the direction of the Inuzuka clan. Kiba liked dogs. Heck, Kiba _had_ a dog. Surely the brunette wouldn't mind keeping them for a while. At least he had _food_ for them.

They reached Kiba's house and Naruto practically plowed the door down as he knocked, Kiba opening it a second later.

"Kiba!" Naruto hurled himself at the other boy, hugging him. "You like dogs, right?"

"Get off me." Kiba shoved him away. "And yes, why?" He frowned.

"Here, enjoy." Sasuke moved aside and motioned the dogs into the house. They chatted amongst each other as they obeyed, walking past a confused and horrified Kiba. "Bye."

"Wha—wait a minute!" Kiba hollered as Naruto and Sasuke turned, running off. "Hey! What the fuck?!"

The two members of Team Seven grinned at they ran before high-fiving. Mission complete. _Time for ramen,_ Naruto grinned.

**END.**

* * *

**Poor Kiba :3**


	26. Sandcastles

#25)  
Requested by: frack101 (aka Fuzzy-Hime, aka my muse)  
Characters: Gaara  
Situation: Gaara likes to make sandcastles.  
Pairings: No Pairings.  
Spoilers: YES.

* * *

**A/N: All must bow down to the wonderness that is my muse. :bows: (And yes, wonderness is a word. Cause I say so.)**

**Disclaimer: I own Naruto Merchandise. That counts as owning them, right? K. Masashi can't get mad, right?**

* * *

Gaara liked sandcastles. Not surprising, really, since he essentially grew up in the middle of a large beach. Of course, the desert was hardly a beach, but it still had sand. And you needed a lot of sand to make sandcastles. 

When he was a child, he used to leave the village with a large jug of water and stop right outside the walls. He would empty the jug on the sand, sit down, and then start making himself a sandcastle. Of course, he could've cheated and had it done in three seconds with a jutsu or just forming it with his own sand, but where was the fun in that?

You always felt like you'd accomplished something after working hard on something like a sandcastle. And the older he got, the larger and more detailed his sandcastles became. They'd started out as simple, one lump structures, but as time went on, they slowly began to take more shape and he began adding more details like towers, windows and even a moat.

He would make a new one every day, until people would walk out and see nothing but sandcastle after sandcastle outside the village walls. The winds blew them away eventually, but they survived for quite a while before blowing away.

Once, he was asked why he didn't just make the sandcastles within the village, but Gaara never answered. He was never really one for conversation, so people could only assume he just didn't want them to get destroyed.

People assumed he's stopped once he became Kazekage. After all, he couldn't just leave the village whenever he pleased without guards, and Gaara liked making sandcastles to get away. It was hard to get away when ANBU were breathing down your neck, insisting they're protecting you. No, Gaara hadn't left the village to make sandcastles since becoming Kazekage.

But it didn't mean he'd stopped.

Gaara had a huge vessel of sand in his office with a jug of water beside it. Both were replaced every morning, for his convenience. Whenever he got stressed out, or annoyed, he would lock his door, pull out a large wooden board, pour sand and water onto it, and start making a sandcastle.

It soothed him. Calmed him. Some even claimed it made him _nice_.

If there was one thing Gaara was very rarely, it was nice.

And so, on that hot, stressful Wednesday afternoon, Gaara needed to make himself a sandcastle. He went about everything as usual, locking his door and getting everything ready.

Now to Gaara, working with sand was an art form; it wasn't something just anyone could do, and it wasn't to be taken lightly. He worked hard, and he ensured he did it perfectly. Which was why when he was just about done, and a large scream startled him into putting his hand through the left tower, he was not very happy.

"Whatcha doin', Gaara?"

The Kazekage turned ever so slowly towards the window, his eyes locking on the blond who'd startled him into destroying his masterpiece.

"Naruto." he growled.

The blond frowned, perched up on the windowsill. He'd tried the door, but it was locked, and instead of being smart and coming back later, he'd climbed the large building and entered through the window. Security in Suna was really lacking.

"Your door was locked." He shrugged. "I was curious as to what you were doing. Sandcastles, huh? That's cool."

Gaara's hands shook before he lashed out with his sand.

"Gah! Gaara!"

**END.**


	27. Tag, You're It!

#26)  
Requested by: frack101 (aka Fuzzy-Hime, aka my muse)  
Characters: All Seven.  
Situation: Ninja tag in the forest, and Neji's it. How do you hide from someone who can see everything?  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**Disclaimer: I'm too tired... the last two hurt my brain. They're not mine, they're K. Masashi's. Don't sue me, all you'd get is my cat, and I won't give her up without a fight.**

* * *

"Mendokuse." Shikamaru sighed, leaning back against a tree with his hands in his pockets. "Why am I here, again?" 

"It's for fun, suck it up." Kiba grinned.

"What are we doing again?" Gaara asked with his arms crossed, bored.

"Okay, here's how it works." Naruto grinned. "I picked a name at random and established that Neji's it."

"It what?" Neji asked with a cocked eyebrow.

"Just—it. You know, the one who's—you know what I mean." Naruto sighed. "Anyway, the game is hide and seek tag. Neji has to count to one-hundred, and then he goes out and finds us all. We'll have hidden, obviously. He finds us, and then chases us because he has to touch us before we're eliminated. The first person caught is the next person who's 'it'. Got it?"

"Yosh!" Lee thrust his fists in the air. "Youthful energy be with us all! Watch me, Gai-sensei!"

"Yeah." Naruto gave him a look. "Anyway, Neji, go ahead and start counting."

The Hyuuga stared at him before shrugging and leaning back against the tree, crossing his arms and closing his eyes. He began to count as the other ran off, Naruto doing so in a particularly loud fashion.

"Oi!" Kiba caught up to Naruto, Akamaru beside him. "You _do_ realize who Neji is, right?"

"Meaning?"

"Uh—Byakugan?"

Naruto was silent for a few seconds. _"Kuso!"_

Neji just shook his head as he continued to count. Even _without_ Byakugan, Neji would be able to find Naruto without any problems. The blond was _loud_ enough.

As soon as the Hyuuga hit one-hundred, he spun around and saw Gaara. The redhead was standing right where he had been before Neji had started counting. He smirked, waking towards Gaara. _This is too easy,_ he thought as he walked up to the Sand nin. He reached out to touch him, only to have sand come up and block his hand. He frowned, moving it to try and touch Gaara again, but the sand blocked his hand a second time. The Hyuuga was getting frustrated and he started moving faster, trying to get Gaara, but not managing to.

Then, Neji heard Naruto scream as he apparently fell out of a tree. The Hyuuga decided to go after him for now, glaring at Gaara.

"I'll deal with you and your sand later."

He turned and walked through the forest, not bothering with Byakugan, since Naruto was making enough noise to raise the dead. Neji walked up behind Naruto, who was about to climb a tree, and slapped him in the back.

"Itai!" He spun around, and his eyes widened. "No fair! You cheated! You used Byakugan!"

"Hate to break it to you, but I don't _need_ that to find you, Naruto." Neji said dryly as the blond pouted and turned to head back to the starting point of the game.

Neji turned as he noticed Shikamaru standing behind him, having appeared the second Neji had slapped Naruto in the back.

"Can I help you, Nara?"

"Yes." Shikamaru held out his hand, the Hyuuga cocking an eyebrow. He slapped it after a few seconds and Shikamaru shoved it back into his pocket. "Oh no, it appears I've been tagged. What a shame—I'm going home."

Shikamaru turned and headed out of the forest, Neji grinning as he understood Shikamaru's plan. The Nara hadn't wanted to play to begin with and he'd probably been planning on getting caught first so he could just head home. However, Naruto had spoken about that stupid rule, wherein the first person caught had to be 'it' next, putting a flaw in the genius' plan. Then again, it wasn't like he'd had to wait long, seeing as how Naruto was an idiot.

Neji sighed, shaking his head as he continued to search for the other players. Surprisingly, they were hidden well enough that Neji had to turn on and rely on his Byakugan.

The first person he saw was Kiba, but because of the boy's acute nose, every time Neji approached him, he would change position, making Neji actually have to _chase_ him. He ended up catching Akamaru, an argument breaking out between the still-hidden Kiba and Neji about whether or not that _actually_ counted. The Hyuuga argued that they were a team, and a disgruntled Kiba emerged, returning to the front with Akamaru.

"You still cheated." the Inuzuka snapped, annoyed, heading back to join a sulking Naruto. "At least I wasn't the first one caught." He noticed Gaara, and frowned. "You got caught?"

"No."

"Then why are you standing here?"

"Because I can." was Gaara's reply, followed by a glare.

Kiba decided to drop it.

The next person Neji found was Lee, but _finding_ him and _catching_ him were two completely different stories. The green-clad shinobi kept jumping from tree to tree, screaming about the heigh of his youth and how he was going to make Gai-sensei proud. Neji ended up having to do Kaiten to unbalance the shinobi and force him to fall from the tree. Although he landed on his feet, Neji was too fast for him and ended up slapping him in the back.

"Neji! My eternal rival! You have caught me fair and square! Your spirit far surpasses my own and I must work harder in the height of my youth if I am ever to defeat you!"

Neji's eyebrow twitched. "Lee, just go back to the front."

The other shinobi did so, and Neji looked around, trying to locate the last evasive shinobi. He could still see Gaara near the front, but Sasuke was proving harder to find. It took the Hyuuga a few seconds to realize that Sasuke had not only masked his chakra, but had been hiding behind a Genjustu. Even though the Uchiha knew Neji would be able to see past the jutsu, it still worked for quite a while.

Neji approached the other boy, and after a small chase, he slapped the raven in the back before Sasuke fell to his knees, pounding on the ground. Neji stared on with one eyebrow cocked.

"I'm weak! I'll never beat Aniki if I can't even escape _you_! I'm so weak!" Neji felt a bead of sweat trickle down the side of his face as he slowly backed away. "I need revenge, but I'm so weak! Aniki will beat me in a second!"

Neji turned and returned to the front, not wanting to deal with the insane Uchiha. He wasn't worth his time, anyway.

He returned to the group by the front of the forest, glaring at Gaara, who just stood with his arms crossed, unmoving.

"Where's Sasuke?" Naruto asked, confused.

"Cursing his existence." Neji shrugged. "Your turn, Naruto."

"Hai!" He turned and began to count, Lee and Kiba running back into the forest. Neji and Gaara shared a look before heading back to the village. After all, it would be funnier this way.

**END.**


	28. Poker Night

#27)  
Requested by: trinityXomega  
Characters: All seven plus senseis and adults.  
Situation: The adults are all playing poker and drinking and the seven are spying on them.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**A/N: Wow, this is by far the longest it has ever taken me to complete something. I'm so sorry to everyone I've promised a one-shot to in this, and I promise I'll get to it soon. I'm trying to finish this before the new school term, so please bear with me :sweatdrop:**

**Disclaimer: I played poker with K. Masashi for the characters, and I won, but he found out I cheated so he had me arrested. Again.**

* * *

"Stop moving around so much." 

"You're standing on my foot!"

"Will you shut up?! They'll hear us!"

"Can you see yet?"

Naruto grunted as he pushed his way over so he could see through the window, looking inside, where all the Jounin were. They were huddled around a large table with cards in their hands and drinks on the table. All of the senseis were there, as well as two or three of the Tokubetsu Jounin and Gaara's sensei, Baki. Upon first glance, one would think the Jounin were just paying a nice game of cards. But no, it was much more than that.

Asuma slammed his hand down on the table, a piece of paper left behind once he pulled it back, and then pointed at Kakashi. "I'll bet you my Chouji for your Sasuke."

"Throw in Shikamaru for my newly acquired Kiba, and you're got a deal."

"Great." Sasuke muttered from the window. "I go from Sakura to Ino."

"Could be worse." Naruto shrugged.

"Uh oh." Kiba snickered. "Genma's about to blow again."

All seven boys outside the window moved closer together so all could see. After all, this was the best part of the night. Genma's continuous outbursts were _hilarious_.

The Tokubetsu Jounin slammed his hand down on the table before jumping to his feet. "The clothes! The _clothes_! Why are there _clothes_?!" he demanded. "Who _cares_ about the students, why can't we bet the _clothes_?!"

"I have to agree with Genma." Kakashi nodded. Iruka turned to glare at him. "Just this once." the Jounin insisted, scratching the back of his head.

"Strip poker! Come on, guys, please? _Please_?" Genma whined as he clasped his hands together.

"For the last time, _no_, Genma!" Raidou pulled him back into his seat.

Kiba snickered again. "I guarantee it won't be the last time."

"Yeah, no kidding." Naruto grinned.

"I won, fork 'em over." Asuma grinned as he held out his hand. Kakashi grunted and gave the man the two papers with the names of the students he'd just lost. "I am on a roll!" Asuma laughed, rubbing his hands together. "If this keeps up, I'll have my pick of Genin teams." He tapped his chin and looked around. "Gai, I bet you Kiba for Neji and Shikamaru for Lee. And Iruka, I'll trade you Chouji for Naruto."

Both men gasped and clutched one piece of paper to their chests.

"You want my Lee?" Gai asked, horrified.

"Gai-sensei!" Lee blubbered from outside with tears streaming down his face. "It's all right! Trust in your luck!"

"Come on, Gai." Asuma sighed.

"I will trust in my luck!" Gai exclaimed as he slammed Lee's name in the centre, Neji's already there. "I will trust that Lee will not be taken from me!"

"Yeah, yeah." Asuma rolled his eyes. "Iruka, you in?"

"Can't I just—bet someone else?"

"Let him go, Iruka." Genma put his hand on the Chuunin's shoulder. "Just let go."

"_You're_ the one who needs to let go." Iruka's eyebrow twitched. The Jounin's visible hand was on the sensei's shoulder. The _other_ hand was slowly creeping up his thigh. "I'll break your fingers."

"Aw, you're no fun." Genma pulled both hands away and crossed his arms, pouting.

"I assure you, he's _tons_ of fun." Kakashi grinned. Iruka covered his face with both hands.

"Let's never play poker with Genma again." Kurenai sighed. "It's just not worth it, and he makes Kakashi's perversion level shoot up."

"Hey! I _am_ right here!" Genma exclaimed.

"That's the problem." Kurenai muttered.

"I hope Asuma or Iruka wins." Neji said to the others outside with him. "I'd do anything to get away from Gai."

"What?!" Lee exploded. "But Neji, Gai-sensei is—"

"Weird." Kiba and Naruto cut in, looking intently at the Jounin. Iruka had just relinquished his hold on Naruto's name, and two minutes later, Gai jumped up and started dancing, showing he'd won. Naruto put his hand comfortingly on Neji's shoulder.

"Poor thing."

"You were won, too." Neji reminded.

"What?!" Naruto screeched, horrified.

"No, he wasn't." Shikamaru sighed. "Asuma's the one who bet Iruka, not Gai, which means that Iruka kept his Naruto, and Asuma lost his Kiba and me."

"So I'm not Gai's?" Naruto asked.

"No."

"Yatta!" Naruto started dancing slightly as Shikamaru sighed.

"Mendokuse. I'm going home." The ponytailed boy turned and started walking away when a wall of sand appeared in front of him, blocking his way. He coughed. "On second thought, I'll just—stay here." He turned back. "Here is good."

Kiba snickered. "Good one, Gaara."

"I was just bet for Shikamaru." The Sand-nin said, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. "I want to know whether or not I need to kill him."

It was a tense three minutes, but Baki ended up winning, thus allowing Shikamaru to remain alive. After a few more rounds and another outburst about strip poker from Genma, they were down to their last game, and it was Kakashi's turn.

"All right, Kakashi, who's it gonna be?" Raidou asked.

"Okay." He thought about it for a second. "I will bet Iruka's pants!"

The Jounin flew out of his chair, Iruka's fist still extended. "Bet your own damn pants!" he hollered.

"That hurt." Kakashi whined as he rubbed his cheek, getting back onto his feet so he could sit down again. He looked down at all of his names and sighed. Truth be told, he sort of wanted his old team back. The only person he still had was Sakura, and that was only because he'd won her back from Kurenai earlier.

"All right, Asuma, I'll bet you—Kankurou for Sasuke, and Iruka, I'll bet you Shino for Naruto."

"You can't have him!" Iruka insisted, clutching the piece of paper with Naruto's name on it. "You can't!"

"Just put the damn name down." Asuma sighed, slapping Sasuke's name onto the table. Iruka sniffled, but did as he was told.

After a few minutes, Kakashi won, getting his two students back and handing off the other students to anyone he deemed deserved them. Asuma went about separating his perfect team before handing all the others out, everyone else doing the same.

"Yes!" Naruto cheered. "Iruka-sensei was cool, but being back with Kakashi-sensei is normal!"

"Hn, dobe."

"Teme!"

"Usuratonkachi!"

Shikamaru sighed. "God, I hate normal." he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets and wandering off.

**END.**


	29. Must Iron Like Ninja

#28)  
Requested by: Cookie?!  
Characters: Sasuke and Kakashi.  
Situation: Sasuke goes to talk to his Jounin instructor, only to find him ironing his clothes—on the ceiling!  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi made me _promise _that one of my New Year's Resolutions was going to be to stop trying to steal his characters. I was forced to agree. But, one thing our dear Kishimoto-sensei forgot was that NO ONE _ever_ keeps their resolutions XD.**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke scowled down at the new mission he had been assigned. It was a D-rank—a boring one. He didn't mind, it would be a nice change. What he _did_ mind was the fact that Naruto and Sakura hadn't been assigned to join him. Why was he the only one going on this mission? At least with the blond dobe to bother it would be entertaining, but alone? 

"Kakashi?" Sasuke knocked on his sensei's door. "Kakashi-sensei, I need to talk to you."

"It's open." the Jounin called from inside, so the Uchiha turned the knob and pushed open the door.

"Kakashi-sensei, I was—" He cut off as he looked around the small apartment. The voice had sounded really close to the door, so why was there no one there? "Kakashi-sensei?" Sasuke inquired, stepping further into the apartment and closing the door.

"Up here."

Sasuke looked up.

Kakashi looked down.

The Uchiha blinked.

The Jounin smiled. "Hi, Sasuke."

The raven lost it completely. "Do you _ever_ do anything normally?! You eat at the speed of light, you never use doors, you don't use gel so only God knows _how_ your hair stands up like that, and now, _you're ironing upside down_!" He exploded, throwing a sort of mini tantrum by the door. Kakashi just smiled pleasantly as he turned his shirt over and continued ironing, having gone through a lot of trouble to ensure the ironing board and the iron itself wouldn't fall.

"Why do things the normal way when you can make them so much more interesting?" he inquired. "Plus, things like this are good conversation starters. See? We're having a conversation."

"We would've had one regardless!" Sasuke insisted. "Get down here!"

"But I'm rather enjoying myself up here." Kakashi smiled, letting go of his shirt. It landed on Sasuke's head. "Whoops, wanna hand that back to me?" Sasuke pulled the shirt off his head and threw it onto the floor angrily. "Hey, hey! I just ironed that! At least have the decency to put it down without balling it up. It's gonna be all wrinkled, now." The Jounin pouted through his mask.

"Will you just come down here?!" Sasuke demanded.

"No. I'm enjoying myself up here. You could come join me."

"Yeah, right, because I _really_ want to waste my chakra by climbing up onto the ceiling." Sasuke grumbled, crossing his arms. He wondered if maybe that was how Kakashi got his hair to stand on end like that. He took a shower and then hung around on the ceiling for a while. It could work.

"So, Sasuke, what was it you wanted?" the Jounin inquired as he grabbed another shirt from a small pile beside him, being held up by some netting.

"I was—" Sasuke looked up at him to talk, but it just felt so utterly ridiculous looking up at someone because they were hanging upside down. With a defeated sigh, he walked up to the wall, infused chakra into his feet, and started climbing the wall. He reached the ceiling and walked towards Kakashi with his hands in his pockets. His hitai-ate was threatening to fall off, so he took it off and shoved it in his pocket before tucking in his shirt and putting his hands back where they had just been.

"Why am I the only one assigned to this D-rank?"

"I felt you were getting too irresponsible. You've been taking too many risks, so I decided to put an end to it for a little while."

"_I_ take too many risks? What about Naruto?!"

"He doesn't jump blindly into something he knows he can't win. He may be loud and brash, but he thinks before he acts."

"Naruto knows how to think?"

"I thought we were having a serious conversation, Sasuke." Kakashi gave him a look.

"A serious conversation?" Sasuke asked. "It's hard to think seriously when your sensei is _ironing_ on the _ceiling_!"

"It's not that weird." Kakashi insisted.

Just then, the Jounin's door slammed open and Sasuke jumped, startled. Unfortunately, since he was on the ceiling, the jump caused his feet to come clear off the ceiling and he screamed before slamming hard into the ground, rolling onto his side and groaning.

"Shit, Sasuke, are you okay?!" Naruto asked, horrified.

"And _that_, Sasuke, is why you are on a D-rank mission. You need to learn to expect surprises." Kakashi smiled as he continued to iron.

"Kakashi-sensei?"

"Hm?" the Jounin looked at Naruto.

"Why are you ironing on the ceiling?"

Kakashi blinked before leaning forward more on his ironing board. "Silent. Must iron like ninja."

"I'm going home." Sasuke grumbled.

**END.**


	30. The Sound of Music

#29)  
Requested by: petit etoile  
Characters: Sasuke, Naruto and Neji.  
Situation: Sasuke is a conductor for the New York Philharmonic, and Naruto is a famous pianist. Both are known to hate each other, although Sasuke secretly has feelings for Naruto. When a famous violinist, Neji, joins Naruto to form a duet, Sasuke becomes insanely jealous.  
Requirement: Must include Beethoven's _Kreutzer Sonata_.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

* * *

**A/N: Honestly--I thought this one was going to kill me when I first saw the situation, but it was actually really, really fun. I really enjoyed writing this one.**

**Disclaimer: It's 4:40 in the morning, I'm not awake enough for a witty comment. They're K. Masashi's and no matter how much begging I do, I'll never get them.**

* * *

As Uchiha Sasuke stood at the front of the large orchestra, both hands raised and his eyes scanning everyone seated before him, he began to move, his arms swaying as he started conducting. The large orchestra before him followed his lead, the music flowing through the large concert hall, and the audience drowning in its radiance.

It was no secret that Sasuke was the best conductor in the country, some even argued he was best on the world. He was so mesmerizing to look at that the orchestra themselves couldn't look away.

As Beethoven's _Kreutzer Sonata_ began to fill the concert hall, one instrument rose above the rest in terms of beauty. This instrument—was the piano.

A lone blond figure, Uzumaki Naruto, sat on the tall black stool, his fingers seeming to dance across the keys as he played. He was almost as mesmerizing as Sasuke was, but it was harder to see him, since he was practically hidden behind the large piano.

The concert ended an hour later, the audience exiting while discussing the beauty of the music, most saying they enjoyed Beethoven's piece best because Naruto's playing had been so dominant. But even though the audience had enjoyed it, the conductor himself was rushing after the pianist, an angry scowl on his face.

"Hey, Uzumaki!" Sasuke grabbed the blond's arm and yanked it back, growling. "I thought I told you to cut back at the end so the violins could be heard better."

"Sorry, must've slipped my mind." Naruto fake-smiled at the conductor.

"Bullshit! You did it on purpose! This orchestra is _not_ comprised of only _you_!"

"You know what? I've had it." Naruto growled angrily. "All you ever do is try to hold me back, giving me one song per concert, and I'm _sick_ of it! Contrary to what your big, fat ego thinks, people don't only come here to see _you_, they come here for the _music_." The two glared at one another before Naruto scoffed. "You know what? Forget it. I'm sick of this, I'm out. Find yourself another pianist."

With that, Naruto turned and stormed away, grabbing his coat and pushing through the back door.

"Hey. Hey! Get back here!" Sasuke hollered, running after him. Naruto rounded on him, growling.

"Leave me alone! Didn't you hear me? I _quit_!"

"You can't quit!" Sasuke screamed. "I'm firing you!"

"You can't fire me, I already quit!"

"Then take it back so I can fire you!"

Naruto growled before turning his back on Sasuke, stomping away angrily while muttering under his breath. Sasuke watched him go, panting. A smoker from the orchestra headed back for the door and Sasuke grabbed his arm.

"Did that just happen?" Sasuke whispered.

"What, you mean Naruto quitting slash you firing him? Yeah, it happened."

Sasuke didn't let go of the other man's arm as he stared after the retreating blond, who was rubbing his arms to keep warm. Sasuke's stomach clenched.

"I need to lie down." Sasuke admitted, his knees no longer able to support him. God, what had he done?!

He was _never_ going to see Naruto again!

* * *

Naruto slammed the large wooden door angrily, punching the wall repeatedly until he felt the skin on his knuckles shredding. Panting, he stopped, his hand aching and blood dribbling down his fingers to his carpeted floor.

He had a dent in his wall, but that wasn't because of what had just happened. Naruto always ended up punching that particular section of his wall after an encounter with Sasuke. Nobody would know it based on how well he took the other's criticism, but he had a short fuse. Sasuke was just about the only person on the planet Naruto hadn't punched outright, but that was because he valued his job. Now, he didn't have one.

"Great." He sighed, walking to his kitchen as he kicked off his shoes on the way, an action he'd perfected over the last couple of years.

Entering the kitchen, he ran the water and put his hand under it to try and take some of the sting out. The wound stopped bleeding a few seconds later, and the pain receded slightly so he grabbed some paper towel and patted it dry, turning off the tap as he headed for his room.

He was about five steps out of the kitchen when his head snapped up and he bolted towards his living room where a large piano sat. Scrambling for a music sheet, he put a pencil between his teeth as he sat down, shrugging hurriedly out of his coat before putting his fingers on the keys. Immediately, a tune echoed throughout his apartment, the man stopping every few seconds to write the notes down. The first page was filled within seconds and he practically tore his apartment apart looking for a new sheet.

Other music sheets covered with notes littered the area, some pages stapled together while others had the name of the piece with numbers on the top, mixed together with other sheets of music.

Not many people knew this about Naruto, but four years ago, when he'd first joined the New York Philharmonic, he'd started writing music. Usually, it was after a bad day. Inspiration would hit him soon after he punched the wall, and he always scrambled to get the melodies in his head down on paper. He'd never showed the music to anyone, but now that he was out of a job, he thought that maybe it wouldn't be such a bad idea for him to try and go solo.

"Pianos never sound good alone." He mumbled to himself as he wrote another note, putting the pencil back between his teeth and frowning as he played. Naruto knew a lot of people went big with pianos, the best example being Beethoven, but personally, he didn't like the sound of a piano all by itself. He would much prefer to have another instrument. Then again, the audience liked him well-enough when he was alone, and he supposed that was all that mattered.

After a few hours, he was done, and he went to call one of his friends who owned the concert hall the orchestra always played in. It took some doing, but Naruto finally managed to make her agree to let him borrow the hall when it wasn't being used. It was different listening to music in a large concert hall, and Naruto wanted to see what his sounded like.

He went to bed that night with a smile, wondering what life would hold for him in the future.

* * *

Hyuuga Neji didn't know what brought him to the concert hall that day; well, other than the fact that he'd gotten a call from the owner, an old friend of his. He trudged into the main office where Tamura Tenten was filling out some kind of paperwork and looking through a schedule.

"You wanted to see me, Tenten?" Neji asked as he sat down in one of the chairs.

"Oh, Neji, glad you could make it." Tenten pushed all her work aside, leaning forward with an excited smile. "You've been out of a job for a while now, huh?"

"Rub it in, Tenten." The man snapped angrily.

"I'm just saying I may have found you a new one." The woman shrugged, a wicked smile still on her face. The other was strangely subdued, which worried Neji more than anything. "You recall an old friend of ours? Uzumaki Naruto?"

"Yes, but how does that help me?" Neji asked, crossing his arms. He'd made the mistake of telling Tenten a long time ago that he had a small interest in Naruto, and of course, Tenten had blown it out of proportion. Luckily, Naruto had never found out, or else he and the blond wouldn't be on speaking terms. Well, they didn't speak often, but they had the occasional drink.

"You were famous once, Neji. People still whisper your name when violinists come up, but you just decided to drop that for a normal job. I think it was a mistake, especially considering you don't have one." Tenten cracked her neck as he stood. "Come with me, I want to show you something."

Without a word, Neji stood and followed the woman out of the office. They walked through the empty building towards one of the smaller concert halls. Neji could hear the melodious tune of a piano, and frowned. He didn't recall ever having heard that particular piece before.

Tenten stopped in front of the door and pushed it open, showing Neji the scene inside. Naruto sat at a piano on a stage, papers littering the floor, a pencil behind one ear and another in his mouth. A deep frown was on his face as he played, stopping on occasion to change notes on the sheet in front of him before continuing.

"He quit last night, and wants to go solo." Tenten informed Neji as the man watched their friend play. "He was complaining about not liking the sound of music by itself like this. He was considering auditioning violinists. I thought I'd save him the trouble."

"I don't know about this, Tenten." Neji muttered. "Mixing business with pleasure..." He trailed off with a sigh.

"What have you got to lose?" Tenten bent down, picking up a violin case she'd left beside the door and handing it to Neji. "You're both famous, and you both play amazingly well. Even Apollo would be jealous."

"Don't bring your Greek Gods into our lives." Neji rolled his eyes, taking the case. "I'll see what he thinks, but I guarantee it won't work out."

With a deep breath, the Hyuuga walked into the concert hall, heading towards the stage. He had almost reached it when the music stopped, Naruto having noticed him out of the corner of his eye. He smiled, pulling the pencil out of his mouth.

"Well I'll be damned. Hyuuga."

"Morning, Uzumaki." Neji stopped in front of the stage, putting the violin up on it and leaning forward. "I hear you're out of a job."

"Getting a new one as we speak." He smirked, stretching. The man was wearing a pair of faded jeans with a white, button-down shirt. His hair was standing up at odd angles, and Neji wondered how long the other man had been awake.

"I heard. Tenten told me." He motioned the back of the room. "Mind if I hear something?"

"Sure." Naruto smiled, putting the pencil back between his teeth and starting to play the piece he'd written the night before.

Neji was impressed. Naruto was good. _Really_ good. He knew the blond could play, but having him compose music was just incredible.

As he listened, he could hear certain parts where a violin would sound good, and he understood Naruto's reluctance to play alone. Only anyone else as experienced in music as him and Naruto would be able to tell the awkwardness of it, but it was enough.

"Beautiful." Neji smiled as Naruto ended. "Wonderful piece, Naruto, though—might I make a suggestion?" The Hyuuga climbed up onto the stage.

"Of course." Naruto waited as Neji bent down and removed the violin from its case. He stood again, getting behind Naruto and inspecting the music sheet.

"Play it again." he ordered as he positioned the violin. Naruto obeyed and as he listened, Neji added in his own part of the piece, following the musical notes Naruto had in front of him and adding a bit more to them with his violin.

Tenten stood at the door with her arms crossed, watching everything unfold. She'd known the second Naruto had mentioned needing a violinist that Neji would be his man. She smiled as she turned and started walking away. _Uchiha, you have no idea what you've just lost,_ the woman thought to herself as she returned to her office to finish her paperwork.

* * *

"Thank you." Sasuke said as the pianist in front of him stood and bowed. "Thank you, wonderful. We'll call you."

The pianist walked towards the door, and once he'd exited, Sasuke crossed his name out before slamming his head down on the table. He'd gone through about twenty pianists in the last week, and it was driving him insane. No one could play Beethoven's _Kreutzer Sonata_ the way Naruto could, and it was slowly driving him insane.

He'd called and left numerous messages for the blond, asking him to reconsider, to come back. Nothing. Not a single response from the blond. Sasuke knew that secretly, he didn't want Naruto back for the music, but he couldn't very well admit that to the blond. He'd never spent so much time away from Naruto and it was making him crazy.

He missed the other's loud, brash comments. His sparkling blue eyes, the wildness of his blond hair, his soft, tanned skin—God, he needed help.

Sighing as his cell phone rang, he groped for it with his forehead still against the table and answered, putting it to his ear. "Uchiha."

"_Sasuke, it's Kiba!"_ The Uchiha sat up, a frown marring his features. Inuzuka Kiba was one of the percussionists in the orchestra, as well as Sasuke's best drinking buddy. The man could hold his liquor. _"Shit, Uchiha, you're not gonna **believe** this! I'm in front of the hall and—Fuck, man, **Naruto** is in a duet with the famous violinist Hyuuga Neji! After he quit, he started writing his own music and they're having a concert right now!"_

"What?!" Sasuke hollered, jumping to his feet. "Who does he think he is, quitting on me and then going solo?!"

"_Well, technically, it's a duet—"_

"Shut up, Kiba!" Sasuke hollered as he gathered his things hurriedly, shoving them into his satchel as he grabbed his coat and scarf. "You're at the concert hall, right? Any tickets left?"

"_I asked, but they said they were sold out. I heard Tenten say something about having reserved one ticket, but the woman wouldn't say for who."_

"Thanks." Sasuke hung up and dialled Tenten's number. He was on good terms with her, mostly because of how often he conducted in that particular hall, and he would pay whatever it took.

"_I had a feeling you'd be calling me, Uchiha."_

"Name your price." Sasuke said as he got outside, his boots crunching in the snow as he ran across the street after looking both ways, opening his passenger side door.

"_The price you would've paid at the door. I reserved that ticket for you. You have no idea what you've lost, Uchiha."_

"Stop being ridiculous, I'm going to force him to come back." Sasuke snapped as he got into his sleek black car, slamming the door and buckling himself in. "I'll be there in ten."

"_Concert starts in five."_

The two hung up at the same time, Sasuke peeling down the snowy street.

* * *

Sasuke had gone to the concert expecting it to be the worst thing he'd ever heard in his life. Instead, it was one of the best things he'd heard. Naruto and Neji worked together so well it put any other duet in the world to shame.

So, that was why at the end of the concert, Sasuke made his way to the back, only able to enter so easily because everyone knew who he was. He marched down the hall and slammed into the room that Naruto and Neji had all of their personal belongings in for the duration of the concert. The person who looked up at him was Neji.

Sasuke growled. "Where is he?"

"He went to the bathroom." Neji narrowed his eyes. "He doesn't want to see you anymore. Leave."

"That's not for you to decide." Sasuke snapped. "I need to talk to him."

"You want him to come back?" Neji smirked. "You're insane. This was our first night and we had a sold out house. No one has even heard us play together until today and we're already a hit. _Plus_, we're using _his_ music. What makes you think he'd want to return to you?"

"Because without me, he never would've been this famous!" Sasuke hollered. "I made him what he is, I gave him this publicity!"

"No, you suppressed him! Stopped him from being able to go all out while he played! You have no one to blame but yourself for having lost him."

"You'll never be as good at him." Sasuke growled. "You'll always be in the background, you know that, right?"

"Maybe." Neji smirked. "But at least _I_ have a pianist."

"Oh yeah?" Sasuke snapped. "Well—fuck you!"

With that, Sasuke turned, shouldering past Naruto as the blond appeared in the doorway, and left angrily through the back door. Naruto didn't care that Sasuke had been there, nor did he care that the other didn't seem to ever want anything to do with him. Naruto would be just fine without the stuck-up bastard.

* * *

"I need Sasuke." Naruto whined, his head on the table in front of him.

Kiba sighed, taking a sip of his beer as he looked around the restaurant. Naruto had been sitting like that for about five minutes. They'd been there for about five minutes.

"Kiba, you have to help me. I haven't been able to write in over a month."

"So what, people like your other pieces." Kiba shrugged, putting his beer down and leaning back in his chair.

"But they've heard them all before. I've had over fifty concerts in the last six months, and I haven't written anything new since the last time I saw Sasuke. I don't understand. It's like—just seeing him infuriates me and makes my creative juices start flowing." He looked up with a whimper. "I can't do this anymore. I never should've agreed to this."

"You'll be fine, Naruto." Kiba rolled his eyes. "Has it ever occurred to you, though, that maybe it's not the music you miss?"

"What? That's insane." Naruto glared. "Why would I miss that bastard?"

"Gee, I don't know, maybe because you _like_ him."

Naruto stuttered, a cute blush forming on his cheeks and his eyes wide. "Th-that's preposterous! How anyone could like such a troglodyte is ridiculous and utterly inconceivable!"

"Did you know that you use big words when you're caught in a lie?" Kiba grinned, picking up his beer again. "Cause I noticed that a while ago about you. When you don't know what to say, you try to hide your embarrassment with big words and hope no one can notice."

"Kiba, I do _not_ like Uchiha Sasuke."

"Uh huh." The other man just continued to sip his beer.

Naruto glared at him for a long while, the other not saying anything. Soon, the silence was killing him and Naruto slammed his fists on the table, making everyone around them jump, except for Kiba. He'd been expecting it. All he did was grin.

"Fine! All right! Maybe I—maybe I really _do_ miss Sasuke, but there's nothing I can do about that!"

"Sure there is." Kiba wiped his mouth with a napkin. "You can apologize for being so brash. I mean, he'll forgive you. You love Sasuke, and Sasuke loves you."

"I never mentioned anything about loving that blundering buffoon with—"

"Big words again, Naruto." The brunette grinned wickedly. "Stop trying to deny it. Everyone knows you two hate each other, but those who _really_ know you are aware of the fact that your hatred for one another is to cover up the fact that you love each other. You want him back in your life, apologize. Apologize the best way you and rooster-head know how."

"That being?" Naruto asked dryly, crossing his arms as Kiba stood. The brunette patted his shoulder as he passed him, jacket in hand.

"Music, my good friend." Kiba smiled. "Music."

* * *

Sasuke stumbled to his door still half-asleep, throwing the thing open to find an envelope at eye-level.

"It's six in the evening, Uchiha, what the hell are you doing asleep?" Kiba asked as he shoved the envelope in the other's hand and walked into his penthouse suite. "Get dressed, we have somewhere to go."

"No thank you." Sasuke muttered, closing his door and staring at the envelope. It had his name and address written on it in neat handwriting, a stamp in the corner showing that Kiba had gotten it from his mailbox. "Privacy is a foreign concept to you."

"That actually never got mailed, I picked it up for you from the source." Kiba fell down on the Uchiha's couch with a sigh. "I love this couch. Where did you get it? Might want to pick one up for myself."

"Get out, I'm not in the mood." Sasuke grumbled.

"You gonna open that, or what?" Kiba motioned the letter with a jerk of his head.

"If you'll leave afterwards, fine." Sasuke glared, ripping through the paper and pulling out what was inside. A single concert ticket fell into his hand, and looking at the name, he realized it was another one of Naruto's concerts. He was somewhat surprised to notice Neji's name wasn't also on the ticket.

"I've got my own, no need to worry about me." Kiba grinned. "Though I had to pay for mine. That one there is a special invitation from the pianist himself."

"I'm not going."

"Oh, come on, you have to go." Kiba stood up. "He went through a lot of trouble with this. I would know, since I was with him most of the time. He's been having trouble writing recently."

"Good. Maybe now he'll come crawling back to me like the dog he is." Sasuke snapped.

Kiba hit him, not hard, but he did. "Shut up, get dressed, and let's go." He took the ticket from Sasuke's hand. "He went through a lot of trouble for tonight, so you're going even if I have to drag you there looking like this." He indicated the raven's dishevelled state.

With a growl, knowing he wouldn't win against Kiba, Sasuke turned and stomped back down the hall to his room, slamming the door. He had enough time for a shower, so he took one, shaving afterwards before doing his hair and returning to his room. He pulled on a pair of black slacks and a clean, white, button-down shirt, doing up the buttons on the sleeves as he walked out of his room towards the living room. Kiba was shouting at the television where a football game was playing.

"Oh, come on! You were right there!" Kiba yelled angrily.

"Let's go." Sasuke ordered.

Any other day, the brunette would've argued, but he couldn't risk Sasuke changing his mind, so he turned off the television and stood up, heading for the door and opening it.

"After you, oh grouchy rooster-headed one."

"Fuck you."

"Sorry, I've already got a boyfriend." Kiba grinned.

* * *

"I can't believe you made me come here." Sasuke grumbled as he snatched a program from one of the girls handing them out at the door.

"You'll enjoy yourself." Kiba insisted as he led the way to the front row. It had cost the brunette quite a bit of money to ensure he got a seat next to Sasuke, but he didn't mind. Naruto had promised him free tickets to all his other shows if Kiba got Sasuke to come, which he did. Kiba was glad he'd forced Naruto to write that promise down on paper.

The brunette sighed as he fell into his comfortable seat, not bothering with the program since he'd helped Naruto figure out what to write on it. He looked over at Sasuke, though, wondering what the other's reaction would be.

He had the program sitting on his lap, his arms crossed and his eyes narrowed. He hadn't even touched it since they sat down.

"Aren't you going to look at that?"

"No."

"Oh, come on. Don't you want to know what he'll be playing?"

"I don't care."

"Uchiha!" Kiba barked angrily, causing the raven to jump and turn towards him. "Open the fucking program."

Glaring hatefully at the other man, Sasuke grabbed the program from his lap and opened it, turning his glare away from Kiba to inspect the stupid piece of paper.

The first thing his eyes met was the title of the concert. 'The Conductor.' He had to admit, he hadn't been expecting that. As he scanned the list of song names, he realized that most—if not all—of the songs had titles that referred to Sasuke in some way or another. He was shocked. Totally and completely shocked.

"This whole concert is for you." Kiba said from beside him as he got more comfortable. "Call it an apology from one musician to another."

Minutes later, when Sasuke was still staring at the program in shock, Naruto appeared on the stage and the concert started. The raven's eyes were locked on Naruto the whole time he played, the blond avoiding his gaze on purpose. He couldn't even see if Sasuke was there from the angle he was sitting at, and he didn't want to check. He was too nervous, and he knew that if he looked and Sasuke wasn't there, his music wouldn't sound as beautiful as it did now.

At the end of the concert, Naruto stood and bowed, still avoiding looking in the direction Sasuke was meant to be seated. He turned and walked off the stage, people standing to begin leaving as they discussed the pieces played. Most said it was the best concert Naruto had offered to date. 

"So, you gonna go see him?"

"And say what?" Sasuke whispered, not really knowing how to react.

"Gee, I don't know. Sorry comes to mind." Kiba rolled his eyes as he stood and stretched. "And if worse comes to worst, sing."

"Sing?"

"Yeah. You guys communicate with music." The brunette shrugged. "So sing or something." He waved as he headed for the aisle. "I'll wait by the car. Call me if you're gonna have sex or something."

"That's so crude!" Sasuke hollered angrily, even as a blush crept onto his face.

Kiba didn't reply, disappearing with the crowd. Sasuke crossed his arms and pouted, something very uncharacteristic for the Uchiha to do. He didn't know what to do. On the one hand, he wanted to go see Naruto, but on the other, he didn't.

Grumbling to himself, he knew he'd regret it if he didn't, especially since Naruto wrote an entire concert for him. Getting to his feet, he made his way to the back, heading towards the room Naruto occupied. He took a deep breath and knocked.

"Go away, Kiba." Naruto's muffled voice ordered.

"Uh, it's not Kiba." Sasuke replied nervously.

There was shuffling inside before the door swung open, Naruto staring at him wide-eyed. "Y-you came. I didn't think..." He trailed off.

"Yeah, well, Kiba would've dragged me here, anyway." Sasuke shrugged, trying to act nonchalant.

"I'm glad you showed up." Naruto admitted. "Um, you want to come in? I hear there's an orchestra on the way, so you're gonna get trampled soon." He moved aside, Sasuke entering the room.

"Where's Neji?"

"Oh, he's away." Naruto shut the door. "This piece was a solo piece, anyway." Naruto shoved his hands in his pockets, shifting his weight nervously. "Um, I wanted to talk to you about something."

"Sure." Sasuke leaned back against the wall, crossing his arms. "Shoot."

"Well, this is kind of embarrassing." Naruto rubbed the back of his head. "But, um... when-when I'm not with you, I find it really hard to write music." He blurted out. "Every time we had a fight, I could write afterwards. But recently, since I haven't seen you, I haven't been able to write. I only got this concert out because Kiba forced me to sit down and think about everything you meant to me and—the music came back. But I don't want all my concerts to be this personal. This was a concert for you, mostly. I just—I need you to write." he whispered.

"I'll make a deal with you." Sasuke smirked. "If you want me to help you write, then you have to do something for me." He moved away from the wall, walking towards the blond.

"What?" Naruto asked dryly.

"Don't be like that." Sasuke chuckled slightly. "I just want you to come back to my orchestra. You can be solo or a duet with Neji, but I want you back, too. _And_ I want to take you to dinner."

"Dinner?" Naruto asked, not having expected that.

"Yeah. Will you join me for dinner, Uzumaki Naruto?" Sasuke stopped in front of him, smirking.

"Fine, but you do know you're picking up the bill if you're the one asking me out." Naruto gave Sasuke a triumphant grin.

"So you want to be the woman in this relationship? I can live with that."

Sasuke didn't let Naruto answer, pressing his lips against the blond's. After that, Naruto didn't even remember what they'd been talking about.

**END.**


	31. My Closest Friend

#30)  
Requested by: Cersei  
Characters: Sasuke, Naruto and Orochimaru  
Situation: Sasuke is still conscious in his body, even though Orochimaru has possessed him. He can see, hear and feel everything that is going on around him. Orochimaru, in Sasuke's body, goes after Naruto to kill him. Naruto doesn't know it's Orochimaru.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

"_What are you doing?! This wasn't part of the deal!"_

"_Shut up, you brought this upon yourself. You wanted the power to kill your brother, and killed him you have. Now, this body is mine, and I can do whatever I want."_

Orochimaru grinned viciously as he looked around with Sharingan eyes, wearing Sasuke's skin, trying to find a certain someone who'd been evading him spectacularly.

The snake man had happened upon Naruto as the blond had been returning home from a mission. Being an ANBU, it was normal for the Kyuubi vessel to be wandering around alone, which was convenient for Orochimaru. He'd recently acquired his new body, and who better to test his strength on than Naruto? It was perfect.

"Come out, come out, Naruto." Sasuke's voice teased, even though the boy himself wasn't speaking. "Aren't you happy to see me?"

"_You promised that no matter what happened, you would destroy Konoha but leave Naruto out of it!"_

"_I lied. I've always been curious to know who would win between the infamous Uchiha Sasuke and the hated Uzumaki Naruto."_

"_You can't do this!"_

"_Oh, I assure you, Sasuke, I can."_

The man's new eyes found their target hiding freakishly still behind a tree a little further away. He grinned at the Sharingan's abilities, which had grown far superior to any other Uchiha's eyes. Sasuke had trained his eyes to become even more powerful than the Mangekyou of his brother, and even better than the Hyuuga's. How he'd achieved this, Orochimaru didn't know, nor did he particularly care.

All he knew was that he'd never felt so great before, and he liked it. He moved up behind the tree and poked his head around the side, Naruto starting in surprise before jumping away.

"Hey there, dobe." Orochimaru smirked, remembering the nickname Sasuke had given Naruto all those years ago.

"Sasuke-teme." Naruto growled. "What do you want?"

"_Why did you use that name?! Why are you making him think you're me?!"_

"_Because, Sasuke. If I kill Naruto, then you'll have nothing to go back to, and you'll finally understand what you've given up to defeat your brother. You chose this path, now it's time to live with your decision." _

"I want to fight you."

Naruto growled, taking a step back. Orochimaru recognized the look in the blond's eyes. He didn't know what to do. Naruto didn't want to fight Sasuke, which meant he was going to be an easy target. It was hard fighting your closest friend. Orochimaru knew that because of the way Sasuke was practically begging him not to. Especially since the blond didn't know it wasn't Sasuke.

Without warning, Orochimaru channelled chakra into his left hand, throwing a chidori he'd made in seconds towards Naruto. The blond barely managed to duck under it, the raven's arm smashing into the tree the ANBU had been standing in front of.

"Sasuke, don't do this!" Naruto hollered.

"Shut up!" Orochimaru got another chidori going, lunging for Naruto again. "Defend yourself!"

"I'm not going to fight you!" Naruto insisted as he dodged the blow again, this time having the chakra slam into the ground, causing dirt to rise from the pressure.

"Well that's just too bad, because I intend to kill you."

"_Orochimaru, you can't do this!"_

"_You used to be so emotionless. I wish you'd go back to that." _The Sannin said to the other occupant of the body he was residing in.

Orochimaru pulled out a few kunai with explosive tags on them, throwing them in Naruto's direction. The Kyuubi vessel evaded them all and even managed to dodge a blow from the other shinobi when Orochimaru appeared behind him while he was distracted.

The snake man knew it would be over in no time, what with Naruto having nowhere to hide due to the Sharingan, and because the other man didn't _want_ to fight. He didn't want to kill his friend.

Scanning the area again, Orochimaru smirked as he saw Naruto's form hiding again. He fired up a chidori and ran, slamming his fist through the tree _and_ Naruto's chest. He'd made sure to aim _just_ right to ensure that Kyuubi wouldn't be able to heal the damage.

The man pulled his fist out from Naruto's chest, the blond slumping as Orochimaru walked around the tree, watching as the life drained out of the boy's eyes.

"W-why...?" He managed to get out as his eyes glazed over.

"Why not?" Orochimaru smirked.

The Kyuubi vessel died with Sasuke's face being the last thing he ever saw.

**END.**


	32. Mine!

#31)  
Requested by: Cersei  
Characters: Sasuke, Naruto and Orochimaru  
Situation: Sasuke is still conscious in his body, even though Orochimaru has possessed him. He can see, hear and feel everything that is going on around him. Orochimaru, in Sasuke's body, is going out with Naruto. Naruto knows it's Orochimaru. Crack-fic.  
Pairings: SasuNaru (somewhat), OroNaru (somewhat)... how do you categorize this?! Lol.

* * *

**A/N: Wow... excuse my lack of updates, I've been really sick lately. I should probably go see a doctor or something (sweatdrop)**

**Disclaimer: If they were mine, there would be lots and lots of butt-sechs. And more Kiba. Definitely more Kiba.**

* * *

A boy of about eighteen lay peacefully in bed, lying on his side, fast asleep. He shifted every now and then in his slumber, but showed no signs of waking up any time soon. Though the boy _was_ about eighteen, looks could be deceiving. Outwardly, he was just a teenager, but inwardly, his mind had been taken over by another. Though the owner of the body was still aware of everything that occurred with his body, he was no longer in control of it—but that suited him just fine. His new host was doing what the boy himself would have done. 

Getting with his ex-teammate.

"Orochi-chi!" Naruto jumped onto the bed, landing right on the boy's stomach and causing his eyes to snap open as he struggled to inhale.

"Gaki! Get off!" the man in a boy's body yelled angrily.

"Will you help me?" Naruto grinned before waggling his eyebrows, laughing as he crawled over the other and lay down next to him. "You've been sleeping for hours. I'm bored." he whined, resting his head on his own pillow since the two shared the large bed.

"I had a rough mission yesterday." Orochimaru grumbled. "Pretending to be Sasuke is hard, you know."

"That's why you've got me around." Naruto grinned. "Because I know the bastard better than anyone. You hear me in there, bastard?" the blond asked right in Orochimaru's ear. The man winced.

"_Tell him it's too early in the morning to hear his annoying voice."_ The part of Sasuke that still remained ordered Orochimaru.

"He says you're annoying." Orochimaru was too lazy to repeat it word for word. It got the point across, anyway.

"But you love me anyway." Naruto rested his head on Orochimaru's shoulder before closing his eyes, sighing. "You _both_ do."

"Hn." Orochimaru said simply, mimicking Sasuke's ever-famous reply to pretty much everything that Naruto said.

"So, Orochi-chi," Naruto kissed the other's neck, loving the feel of the Uchiha's skin, "what are we doing today?"

"Do you have a mission?" he inquired.

"No, you?"

"No. How about we stay in and you teach me more about Sasuke so I can pretend to be him better."

"Aw, that's so boring." Naruto whined, letting his forehead fall onto the other's chest with a sigh. "He's _in_ your head, why can't _he_ teach you?"

"I prefer being taught by you." Orochimaru smirked as he ran his hand through silky yellow hair. "You're more—entertaining."

"Orochi, are you being perverse?" Naruto raised his head to grin. "I knew that you, Ero-Sennin and Tsunade-no-baachan were all perverted."

Orochimaru just sighed, not bothering to answer the blond's accusation. After all, it was true. All three Sannin were perverted in some way or another. Jiraiya loved his women, Tsunade loved her men, and Orochimaru was somewhere in between, though he'd chosen men, he supposed. After all, he'd been dating Naruto since the blond had come to Sound to retrieve Sasuke. It had been almost four months since then. He'd found out Orochimaru had already entered his best friend's body and had been trying to kill him. That was when Orochimaru decided to come up with a new plan.

He thought Naruto was good looking, and the boy had the Kyuubi inside of him so he was _definitely_ strong. Plus, he wanted to be Hokage. If Orochimaru wanted to take over Konoha, the easiest way would be for him to control the one controlling it. So, he'd made a deal with Naruto. The blond told no one that he was inside Sasuke, and in return, Orochimaru would help him achieve his goal of becoming Hokage. This way, both of them got what they wanted.

The snake man also knew that Naruto was in love with Sasuke, so he'd made it a point to ensure the blond was aware of his own attraction towards him. That was how everything had turned out the way it was now.

"So, did you _want_ to do something, Orochi-chi?" Naruto grinned, running his index finger along the Uchiha's smooth abs.

"Mm, maybe." Orochimaru pulled the blond closer, hugging him. "Are you going to scream _my_ name this time? Sasuke always gets the credit for my hard work."

"I am appalled that you would think I prefer that teme over you." Naruto teased, kissing the hollow of the other man's neck.

"It's a common known fact that you want Sasuke's body like I did." Orochimaru grinned. Naruto seemed to think about this for a second, and then,

"Not in _exactly _the same way, but sure." The Kyuubi-vessel grinned back.

"Mm, if you say so." Orochimaru kissed the crown of the other boy's head. "Shall we?"

"Always."

**END.**


	33. I Spy With My Sharingan Eye

#32)  
Requested by: Chonki  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto (and a bit of Sakura)  
Situation: Sasuke is bored one day in Konoha when there are no missions and there's no training schedule. He has nothing to do so he decides to train his Sharingan by using it to spy on Naruto. Naruto is aware of the fact that he's being watched, but he just ignores it, cause he doesn't really care. Sakura busts Sasuke, so Naruto has to go back and save him. Confessions ensue during the saving.  
Pairings: NaruSasu.

* * *

**A/N: GAH! NaruSasu is so HARD to write! I'm sorry it's not the best thing ever, Chonki T.T I tried.**

**Disclaimer: Kiba would SO be nursing me back to health if I owned them. And when I say "nursing," I don't mean the conventional way ;)**

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke stared up at his ceiling as he lay on his bed, watching shadows flicker on his walls. It wasn't a bright day, but it wasn't a particularly dark one, either. And the reason for such a smart, strong, amazing shinobi to be lying on his bed staring at his ceiling? Simple. 

That same smart, strong and amazing shinobi was amazingly _bored_.

He had absolutely nothing to do. His house was tidy, his weapons were clean and sharp, his fridge and cupboards were stocked, and Team Seven had no missions. So, he had nothing to do. He supposed he could train, but that was boring when the blond dobe wasn't around to bother.

_Hn, maybe I **can** train with the blond dobe, he just doesn't have to know._ Sasuke frowned as he thought about this. He could do it. He'd been meaning to train his Sharingan anyway, and using it on an unsuspecting victim would be a perfect way to perfect it.

The Uchiha ignored that annoying little voice in his head that was telling him he _wanted_ to spend the day watching Naruto, and _not_ just to train his Sharingan.

Stretching, the raven stood up off his bed and made his way to the door. He had to find his little friend. _That shouldn't be hard, the dobe will probably be at Ichiraku._ It had always been a mystery to Sasuke how Naruto could eat so much ramen. That, and how he never got fat from all the carbs.

Sasuke left his house, shoving his hands in his pockets as he made his way towards the rest of town. Once he exited the Uchiha compound, he made his way to Ichiraku, not at all surprised when he saw the Kyuubi vessel sitting at the counter practically inhaling ramen from what appeared to be his seventh bowl.

_Showtime._

Hiding from sight, Sasuke activated his Sharingan, watching Naruto as his muscles shifted under his orange jacket.

The blond, for his part, became aware of the other's presence soon after the raven had arrived. He wondered why Sasuke was just standing right outside the ramen stand but shrugged it off. His ramen was much more entertaining.

"Another!" he said loudly as he slammed his now empty bowl on the counter, licking any stray broth off his lips while he waited. He looked over his shoulder briefly to check out what Sasuke was up to, but the raven was staying out of sight. Cocking an eyebrow, Naruto just shrugged again, turning back to wait for his ramen. He didn't really care what his crazy teammate was up to. As long as it didn't interfere with his ramen-eating, he was good. _Though I **am** sort of curious,_ the blond admitted internally as a new bowl of ramen appeared before him.

Sasuke himself remained expertly hidden, watching Naruto's movements intently. One would even think it was a mission the way the Uchiha was watching his blond teammate eat. Sasuke smirked slightly as he thought about the humour of this. He could write a book, or something. 'How to eat ramen like Naruto' or something along those lines.

Then again, why would _anyone_ want to learn how to eat ramen like Naruto? That was ridiculous. Sasuke sighed, shaking his head. _You know you're bored when..._ he let the thought trail off, looking back at Naruto as he heard him bidding farewell to the man who owned the ramen stand.

Coming out of the shop, Naruto looked left, then right, and frowned, wondering why Sasuke had disappeared. He could still sense the raven nearby, but it was like he was avoiding him or something. The blond rolled his eyes at the Uchiha's naivety. Sure, Naruto wasn't the best shinobi there ever was—_yet_—but he wasn't so bad that he couldn't tell when he was being followed.

And the Uchiha was _definitely_ following him.

At first, Naruto had had his suspicions, thinking maybe he was looking into this too much, but when Sasuke's chakra followed him from Ichiraku to the store, the store to his house, his house to the Academy, the Academy to Iruka-sensei's, and Iruka-sensei's to the training grounds—well, even _Naruto_ could tell he was being followed.

Sasuke crouched down on a branch in the training grounds, watching Naruto pull out a few kunai. Now that he thought about it, if he watched Naruto train like this, he would be able to read his movements perfectly the next time they sparred. His Sharingan was helping him pick up little things about Naruto he'd never noticed before. For example, Naruto's posture always leaned in the same direction he was going to throw his kunai. He was aiming forward, but leaning to the left, and when he threw the kunai, it was a side-throw to the left. He hit the dummy square in the head, but it didn't mean anything to Sasuke, because now, he could read the dobe's movements.

He noticed something similar when the blond fought with taijutsu. If his left hand twitched, he was preparing to punch, and if his feet ground into the earth, he was going to kick. So far, the only thing he couldn't predict was when the other boy was going to perform a jutsu. No matter how intently he watched him, he just couldn't figure out a sign that would allow him to predict the jutsus.

_At least I learned shadow clone,_ Sasuke thought with a smirk. The dobe had never wanted Sasuke to learn that one, but the raven was pretty sure he had it down pat.

Sasuke was so focused on Naruto that it took him about two minutes to realize someone was sitting beside him. He turned his head and almost fell out of the tree, infusing chakra into his feet at the last second. He righted himself again, letting the red bleed out of his eyes.

"Sakura." He forced his voice not to squeak. Score.

"What were you doing, Sasuke-kun?" she asked as she looked away from Naruto, cocking an eyebrow.

"Training." he replied, crossing his arms.

"Training." Sakura repeated skeptically. "I don't know how long you've been following Naruto, but I caught you when he was leaving the Academy. How is following your teammate _training_?"

"Well—I can read his movements." he replied. Sakura blinked.

"Uh huh. And when are you going to need to 'read his movements' other than when you're sparring with him? How is that useful at _all_?"

"Well, you never know. The events at the Valley of the End could happen again except the other way around." Sasuke shrugged. "I just wanted to make sure the dobe doesn't do anything stupid."

"Because Naruto _really_ wants to leave now that the village accepts him." Sakura rolled her eyes. "That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Tell me the truth."

"That _is_ the truth!" Sasuke snapped. He could feel a blush creeping up his cheeks and he struggled to throttle it and lock it away in a box.

Back on the ground, Naruto sighed, shaking his head. He could hear the two arguing from where he stood, and even though he was also curious as to why Sasuke was following him, he felt bad for the teme. So, with another sigh, he turned towards the tree they were both sitting in.

"Oi, Sakura-chan! Sasuke-teme! You guys are breaking my concentration!"

Knowing their cover was blown—well, to _them_, anyway, since Naruto had known from the start that they were there—the two jumped down from the tree. Sakura walked towards Naruto with Sasuke following, his hands shoved in his pockets and an annoyed scowl on his face.

"How did you know we were there?" Sakura asked, slightly embarrassed.

"Uh—because you guys were insanely loud?" Naruto laughed. "Wow, you guys were _trying_ to be stealthy? I've known Sasuke was following me since the ramen stand, and I know you've been following him since the Academy." Both stared at him, stunned. "What, you really think I didn't notice?" He crossed his arms. "It _has_ been four years since I was a complete moron, you know. I _am_ a Chuunin."

"Yeah, but—you still suck." Sakura stated bluntly. Naruto just sighed. No one was ever going to take him seriously. Even Kakashi insisted Team Seven had to stay together. Sakura and Naruto were only Chuunin, and Sasuke was still a Genin due to his years of absence.

"Whatever." The blond just shook his head. "I'm pretty sure I know why Sakura-chan was following Sasuke-teme, but why were you following me?" he asked the raven.

Sakura turned to him expectantly.

"Training." He narrowed his eyes.

"Oh, for crying out loud." Sakura threw her hands in the air in defeat.

"What?" Naruto chuckled. "Did you think he was following me because he _liked_ me or something?"

He continued to laugh, though inwardly, he thought that the idea of Sasuke liking him wouldn't be that bad.

"What?"

"What?" Naruto repeated Sasuke's question, noting the look of shock on the Uchiha's face and the way all the colour had drained from Sakura's.

"What did you say?" Sasuke asked, his throat clenching.

"I asked if she thought you were follow—"

"No, after that." Sasuke insisted, causing the blond to frown.

"I didn't say anything after that."

"You wouldn't mind." Sakura said in a shocked voice.

Naruto stared at her for a few seconds before exploding into a panic. "What?! I said that out loud?! That was meant to be my _inside_ voice!"

Getting over his shock, Sasuke let an arrogant smirk cross his features, even though his heart was pounding at an insanely fast rate in his chest. "So, you wouldn't mind me following you, huh?"

"Wipe that smirk off your face, teme, _you're_ the one who was actually _following_ me."

The smirk fell right off Sasuke's face straight away, Naruto picking up the smirk himself. It seemed that both had been caught in their own game. They both knew they couldn't get out of it and, being the bigger man, Naruto sighed and rubbed the back of his head.

"Well, it's out now, anyway. I might as well admit it." He laughed nervously. "I like you, Sasuke."

Sakura had long since fainted, which was a good thing, because hearing those words come out of Naruto's mouth would have downright killed her. Sasuke himself didn't take it as well as Naruto had hoped.

"You–you _what_?!"

"I like you." Naruto sighed. "You _do_ know what that word means, right?"

Sasuke just nodded dumbly, his mind going a mile a minute as he struggled to wrap his head around what was going on. He didn't understand why Naruto's words didn't bother him, that was what shocked him the most. Did he—_Oh God, I like Naruto and I didn't even know it._

"Sasuke?" The raven jumped, startled, when Naruto's hand touched his cheek. _Wh-when did he get so close?!_ "Are you okay?"

"O-of course, dobe." Sasuke couldn't make his voice sound as cold as usual.

"Are you really?" Naruto leaned closer, but Sasuke couldn't move. He was still trying to figure out if he was okay with this. When Naruto's lips were just inches from his, he gave up. He _had_ followed him around, after all, and even his brain that morning had insisted he was following Naruto for more than just training.

_I've kissed the dobe before, anyway._

Naruto's lips pressed against Sasuke's lightly before pulling away, wanting to make sure the Uchiha wasn't going to freak out. When five whole seconds passed and Naruto didn't find a hand through his chest, he figured this was okay, and moved in again. This time, he let his mouth open so he could pull Sasuke's lower lip between his teeth, sucking on it and biting it lightly, coaxing Sasuke's lips apart. Once the raven gave in, Naruto's tongue slowly passed through the raven's parted lips, exploring his mouth almost lazily. Sasuke hesitantly ran his tongue along Naruto's, which pleased the blond.

Sasuke suddenly pulled away, a look of alarm flashing across Naruto's face before the Uchiha chuckled.

"I don't think we should do this right in front of Sakura." He motioned the unconscious form.

"Why not?" Naruto grinned. "If she wakes up and sees this—she'll just pass out again." He kissed Sasuke again, and this time, the raven ignored everything else.

Five minutes later, Sakura woke up, shrieked, and passed out again. Neither boy even heard her.

**END.**


	34. Boy Band

#33)  
Requested by: badluckcharm  
Characters: Naruto, Kiba, Gaara and Sasuke.  
Situation: Naruto, Kiba and Gaara are a rookie band from around town, but when they want to go big, they're told they need a fourth member. Sasuke joins the band because Kiba kind of knows him, and he and Naruto hate each other right away. The band becomes more popular, and as it does, Naruto and Sasuke seem to get along a lot better.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

* * *

**A/N: Yatta! Only 17 left before I can start my new multi-chapter (cheers)**

**Disclaimer: I've run out of wit for the night. They ain't mine (and considering all the angst I put them through, I don't think they'd want to be).**

* * *

Hard rock music exploded from a small garage located at the house on the corner. The neighbours had long since gotten used to it, since the son of the family who lived there had had a drum-kit since the age of twelve. Now, eight years later, the sound sounded much better since a guitarist and keyboard player were also present. The band had been formed when the boy had been fifteen, so now, all the neighbours could do was try to ignore it. There was no stopping them, anyway. 

Suddenly, the drummer stopped, letting out an annoyed groan as he threw one of his drumsticks at the back of the guitarist's head. "Fuck, dude! You suck at this! You're so not a lead guitarist, you're a bass!"

"At least I can sing!" The brunette turned, rubbing the back of his head as his guitar hung limply from the strap around his shoulder. The keyboard player stopped, as well, not seeing a point in continuing alone.

"Granted, Inuzuka, your singing is top class for rock, but your playing _sucks_." Naruto Uzumaki pulled out another drumstick, twirling it in his hand.

"Like you said, I'm a bass. This isn't anything new to you." Kiba Inuzuka unplugged his guitar, walking over to the drummer. Gaara Sabaku just crossed his arms, waiting.

"I know, but—shit, dude, I got us an audition at the best record company in town, and you're sucking more than usual! At least hit the _right_ notes."

"I'm trying." Kiba growled, pulling his guitar around so he could fall onto the couch present near the drum-kit. He pouted as he strummed the chords, which let out small metallic 'ping' sounds since it was no longer plugged in.

"I think we should stop here for today." Gaara voiced, causing his two friends to look at him. "There's no point in practising all day only to screw up tomorrow 'cause our hands hurt."

"Raccoon Eyes has a point." Kiba insisted. "My fingers feel like they're about to bleed."

The brunette got another drumstick thrown at his head, getting hit square between the eyes. Kiba growled, picking it up and snapping it in half. Naruto didn't mind, pulling out a new one. He had so many just for the purpose of throwing them at Kiba.

"Fine, we'll stop. But Dog Face, you damn well better be in top form tomorrow. It was a bitch getting that audition, and if we bomb, I'm gonna have your ass."

"Whoa, whoa, calm down!" Kiba exclaimed. "Let's not go as far as rape!"

"Fuck you." Naruto sighed. _I knew telling him I'm gay was a bad idea._ There was nothing he could do, now. The idiot had known for three or four years. Gaara did, too, but the redhead didn't talk much, so hearing him crack a joke about it would have made his two bandmates drop dead.

"Let's go, Raccoon Eyes, before Fox Boy tries to con us into a threesome." Kiba grinned at Naruto as Gaara stood, both boys leaving their instruments in Naruto's garage.

The three left the large room, Naruto closing the door behind them as they trudged through the house to the front door. Kiba pulled it open before making his way down the driveway towards his Ford truck. He and Gaara got in as Naruto stood on his porch, hands in his pockets.

"We'll come by early so we can load the equipment in the back." Kiba called out the window as his engine roared to life. Naruto just raised a hand in farewell before Kiba's truck disappeared down the street, the blond rubbing the back of his head and sighing.

He went back inside his house and closed the door, leaning back against it before sliding to the ground. He started shaking almost uncontrollably, biting hard on his lower lip. The blond was absolutely terrified about their audition the next day, but he couldn't show this side of himself to Kiba and Gaara. Naruto was the band leader, so if his friends saw him any other way than strong and commanding, they would either freak out like him, or think Naruto couldn't do this. He _could_ do this, he was just scared to.

"Stop it." Naruto whispered to himself, watching his hands shake as they clutched his knees. "Stop it!"

They didn't stop, which frustrated him. It wasn't like being a rock star was his only option. He was in university, he got good grades, he had gotten an internship at a lawyer's office—Naruto could totally go to his fallback.

But he _wanted_ this.

Being a lawyer was something that interested him, but what he _really_ wanted was to succeed musically. Ever since the first time his hands closed around a pair of drumsticks, he knew. He was going to succeed, or die trying.

The phone rang, but Naruto stayed where he was. He didn't have enough control to get up and answer it. The answering machine clicked on eventually, and he looked up as he heard his mother's voice on the other end.

"_Hey, sweetie! It's mom—"_

"_And dad."_

"_And your dad. I guess you're practising for your big day tomorrow, so we'll be brief. We're so happy for you, and we wish you the best of luck. You'll be great."_

"_Don't worry about it, like we all know you do, son. Just go and play the way you always do and you'll be great."_

"_We're so sorry we can't be there for you right now, but we know you'll pull through. Good luck, sweetie!"_

Naruto smiled as the line clicked and shook his head. "See? Even mum and dad think you'll be fine. Just calm down." The blond stood and headed for the stairs on shaky legs.

* * *

Naruto held his breath as the three men in front of him whispered amongst each other. Kiba was sweating buckets beside him while Gaara looked calm and collected with his arms crossed, but Naruto could see how the redhead's hands gripped his arms tightly. Naruto himself could feel his knees shaking, but he forced himself to look calm, just like Gaara. 

Finally, the man in the middle stood up with a smile. "You guys are great, and we really like you." _But..._ Naruto's mind supplied, his stomach clenching. "But we think you need an extra guitarist."

That... wasn't as bad as Naruto thought it would be.

"An extra guitarist?" Kiba asked, his voice slightly higher than usual. Naruto didn't think the man noticed.

"We really like your style, and all three of you are top class, but for a rock band, you're missing something. We think another guitarist is just what you need. Do you have anyone in mind?"

Naruto opened his mouth to say no, but Kiba spoke first.

"Actually, there is someone we could recruit."

"Great." The man smiled and opened a book in front of himself. "We'll give you a month to get this new member settled in, and we'll meet back with you. Does February twenty-third work for you?"

"Sounds great." Gaara said monotonously, but his hands had loosened considerably.

"Good." The man wrote a note in what the boys assumed was a schedule. "So, here's my card with the date and details." He wrote quickly on a card and held it out to Naruto with a smile. "See you in a month. Good luck."

"Thank you so much." Naruto tucked the card away before he and his two friends left.

Once they were back outside, their equipment in the back of Kiba's truck, Naruto rounded on the brunette angrily.

"You fucked us over royally, you know that?"

"Huh?" Kiba asked, confused, as he got behind the wheel, Gaara sitting in the back seat before Naruto slammed the passenger-side door.

"Instead of having more time to audition guitarists and find a suitable one for our band, you lied and said that we have someone we can use, which means our time to look for a good guitarist just went down by half!"

"What makes you think I was lying?" Kiba asked as he pulled out and eased into traffic, driving just below the speed limit.

"You actually have someone in mind?" The thought hadn't even occurred to Naruto. Kiba wasn't the brightest crayon in the box. Then again, Naruto wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, so fair's fair.

"Yeah. Guy named Sasuke Uchiha."

"Great, you have a name." Naruto rolled his eyes. "Fantastic."

"Relax, man. He's been my neighbour for years. He's the one who taught me how to play."

"Great, then he's got to suck as badly as you!"

Kiba just sighed, shaking his head. "Look, I'll bring him by tomorrow for a tryout. See what you think about him, and we'll go from there. But seriously, he's really, really good. And, with him in the band, I can do the bass. He's an awesome player, he'd be perfect as a lead."

"Whatever." Naruto grumbled, looking out the window.

* * *

A motorcycle zoomed up Naruto's driveway the next day around three o'clock, the garage door open with the blond and his two friends inside. They had just finished setting their stuff back up when the new arrival appeared. 

"Hey, you made it." Kiba grinned. "Glad you found the place."

The rider got off his motorcycle and pulled off his helmet, long black bangs falling into his face as he put it down on the seat before heading into the garage, his guitar strapped to his back. Kiba grinned and patted him on the shoulder before turning to Naruto and Gaara.

"Guys, this is Sasuke Uchiha. Sasuke, these are my friends, Naruto Uzumaki, and Gaara Sabaku." He motioned the two boys. "Naruto's our drummer, and Gaara's on the keyboard. Since you're here, I was thinking you could be lead, since you only ever really taught me how to be bass."

Sasuke nodded as he pulled his guitar off his shoulder and took it out of its case. Naruto just cocked an eyebrow before looking at Kiba. The brunette laughed slightly.

"Strong silent type, like Gaara. Guess with them two being so quiet and us two being so loud, we'll even everything out, huh?"

"Whatever, as long as he can play." Naruto grumbled.

He suddenly got a chord flying towards his face and caught it, shocked. "Plug me in."

Naruto glared angrily, but the raven had his back to him, already on his feet with his guitar in place. Cursing angrily under his breath, Naruto went towards the amps and plugged the other boy in before hitting the button to lower his garage door, so as not to disturb the neighbours more than usual.

Kiba held a few sheets of paper out to Sasuke, who scanned them briefly before handing them back. When Gaara shot a glance at Kiba, the brunette shrugged.

"Photographic memory." Sasuke supplied, noticing the glances. "Ready when you are, damn blondie."

"Fuck you." Naruto started slamming on his drums.

It took less than thirty seconds for both Kiba and Gaara to silently agree that Sasuke was perfect for the position. Naruto, on the other hand, could barely hear the other's playing over his anger at Sasuke's attitude. Who did he think he was, anyway? Just showing up with a holier-than-thou-art attitude and ordering Naruto around? The blond was just steaming angrily as he played.

Once the song ended, Sasuke let his hands drop and turned to look at Naruto, dark brown eyes locking on bright blue, as if challenging Naruto to say something negative. The blond could hardly hold back his anger.

"Sweet! You're fucking _awesome_, Sasuke! I knew you were great!" Kiba wrapped his arm around the raven's shoulder. The Uchiha didn't seem particularly pleased with this, but said nothing about it.

"I agree." Gaara stated from his seat, crossing his arms. "You may be just what we were missing."

"I don't like him."

Kiba practically fell over while Gaara's eyes widened just a fraction, Sasuke's expression remaining unchanging.

"You don't like him?! What do you _mean_ you don't like him?!" He demanded, running up to Naruto and resisting the urge to shake him. "Dude, he's awesome! He rocks harder than anyone else in the room!"

"I don't like him." Naruto repeated, narrowing his eyes at Kiba.

"Hn." Kiba turned to look at Sasuke, Naruto leaning to the side to see past the brunette. Sasuke had an arrogant smirk on his face, his arms crossed and his guitar hanging from the strap. "Looks like you're outnumbered, dumbass. Red and Kiba like my playing. Two to one."

"_I'm_ the band leader." Naruto narrowed his eyes. "Without me, this isn't a rock band. _I'm_ the drummer, _I'm_ the law."

"Naruto, come on." Kiba insisted, whining slightly. The sound reminded Naruto of a wounded puppy. "He rocks, you have to admit that."

"No, I don't." Naruto crossed his arms, he and Sasuke glaring at one another. "His attitude sucks. I can take a lot of shit from people, but he's just not good enough."

"Don't think about his attitude!" Kiba insisted. "Sasuke's a cold-hearted bastard, even _I_ could have told you that! It's the playing that matters!"

The guitarist ran around the drum kit and sighed, one hand around the other's shoulders. "Look, just bear with him for the month and see how things go. When we go back for the audition, if they like him, and we keep him, things should get better as time goes on. He can't remain an emotionless bastard forever, right?"

Naruto narrowed his eyes, raising his hand. Kiba tried to stop him, but he didn't react in time and one of the blond's drumsticks went sailing across the room. The aim was perfect, but what he hadn't been expecting was the raven's hand snatching the drumstick in midair. He snapped it in half with one hand, smirking. Naruto's eyes narrowed.

"If he ends up at the front on the cover of our album, I quit." Naruto spat hatefully.

* * *

As the month progressed, Naruto and Sasuke's hatred grew, the drummer throwing drumsticks at Sasuke practically on a regular basis to make the raven screw up. It got so bad that Gaara and Kiba ended up turning the blond's drums around so he faced the back wall, but he still managed to get a shot or two in when they weren't paying attention. 

Sasuke didn't seem to mind it, making fun of the blond's immaturity and often insulting him, as if he wasn't even there to hear it. The raven knew Naruto wanted him to quit, and that was precisely why he didn't. It was more fun watching the blond get annoyed.

Soon, the boys were back at the record company and by the end of the audition, they all had pens in their hands and contracts on the table. Naruto and Kiba were psyched, while Gaara actually let a smile form on his face to show his excitement. Sasuke was pleased, happy the others were getting what they wanted, but he hadn't worked nearly hard enough to deserve this, so he didn't join in. Besides, he didn't want to burst Naruto's happy bubble—the one where he forgot Sasuke was part of their newly signed band.

He went so far as saying he would walk home—provided Kiba took his guitar—so that the other three could go out and celebrate their success. Kiba said he would call him in the morning and the three boys were gone, Sasuke shoving his hands in his pockets and walking home.

Less than a week after that, they were called in for their first recording, Naruto acting like a little kid in a candy shop when he saw all the high tech equipment set up for them. They even had an electric drum-kit for him to work on instead of his own normal one, which he spent more than an hour fooling around with while the other boys spoke with the people behind the scenes. By the time they started recording, Naruto didn't even know what songs they were going to be playing.

He'd gotten reprimanded for throwing his drumsticks at Sasuke on numerous occasions, but it was such a habit now that he couldn't stop. Sasuke insisted it was fine, and they continued to play. They eventually got three songs recorded, and the company was happy with them, sending them off to the radio stations.

Naruto almost choked on his Cheerios a few days later when his dad turned on the radio and it was smack dab in the middle of one of his songs. His mother had practically shrieked, hugging him tightly and insisting he was going to be even more famous than Elvis. Naruto liked the idea of outdoing the King, even if it was a dream that would never come true.

The band moved up in the charts at an alarming rate, going from the radio, to music videos, and then finally coming out on CDs. After less than a month of their first song being played on the radio, they were already getting offers for live concerts, something which both scared and excited Naruto. They'd done a few performances in bars and malls as they moved up, but an actual _concert_ was much more intense, and Naruto was psyched.

The only downside to the whole thing, in the blond drummer's opinion, was a certain dark-haired bastard who found enjoyment in making Naruto's life hell. The blond wanted nothing more than to throttle Sasuke, but he seemed to be everyone's favourite—which pissed Naruto off—so if he disappeared, Naruto was worried their band would lose favour. Well, that, and everyone would know Naruto was the one who'd killed him.

* * *

"Man, this is so fucking creepy, but so amazing at the same time." Kiba jumped on the spot in the band's private room at the back of the large auditorium where they'd be holding their first concert. They were hours in advance, but that was normal. Unfortunately, all it did was make all four band members nervous. 

"We've been in public before." Naruto insisted. "We have nothing to worry about. It's not like there'll be hundreds of screaming fans with live television broadcasts and everyone focusing on us and oh my God I think I'm going to throw up." The blond fell into a chair and buried his face in his arms, trying not to hyperventilate.

"Calm down." Gaara instructed, the redhead's muscles all tensed but his face expressionless. "As you said, we'll be fine."

"I need food." Kiba shot up from the seat he had just sat down in.

"We just ate." Sasuke insisted.

"I get hungry when I'm nervous!" the brunette insisted.

"I'll go with you." Gaara said, following the guitarist out the door and letting it close behind him.

Naruto ignored Sasuke completely as he struggled to calm down. His hands were shaking and so were his knees. "Calm down. Stop it, and calm down." he whispered to himself.

"Talking to yourself?" Sasuke smirked, crossing his arms and leaning casually against the wall, not betraying how nervous he truly was.

"Just calm down." Naruto ignored him as he tried to take deep breaths. It wasn't working. He needed to go soak his head in the sink or something.

The blond got up from his seat and headed for the door, throwing it open before starting down the corridor. It was virtually empty, since most people were setting things up on stage. The band was alone at the back for the moment.

Sasuke followed Naruto out, his hands in his pockets as he wandered down the corridor after the other, Naruto still whispering to himself. Sasuke noticed the way his steps were shaky and uncertain, and another smile crept onto his face.

"Are you really that much of a coward? How you made band leader, I will never know."

That was the last straw. Naruto had had _enough_. With an enraged cry, he turned around and grabbed Sasuke by the front of his shirt, slamming him against the wall with both hands as he practically pressed his entire body against the raven's, their faces inches apart.

"You listen to me, you fucking prick!" The blond only spared a second of his thoughts to what the object digging into his thigh was. "If you don't stop be—"

Naruto was cut off when he was suddenly pushed hard, flying across the small corridor to slam into the opposite wall. His back hit it hard, and he was about to start an all-out fist fight when Sasuke had him pinned exactly the same way Naruto had held him a second ago. Well, maybe not _exactly_, since the second Naruto was against the wall, Sasuke had his lips clamped hungrily against the blond's.

_Wh—wait... what... what... what the hell is going on?!_ Naruto shoved Sasuke off him, only managing to get their lips parted since the raven had a death grip on the blond's shirt. It suddenly dawned on Naruto what the object digging into his thigh was.

"Kiba told me you were gay." the raven said huskily, not letting Naruto's shirt go. The blond just blinked at him. "When he told me about the audition. He told me about you and Gaara. Told me so much my ears were melting off. When he said you were gay, I didn't know who you were, or what you looked like, so I didn't care. I knew Kiba was just saying it because I'm gay, too." He took a shaky breath as his eyes lowered to the blond's lips. He licked his own subconsciously. "When I saw you—I knew it right away. I knew that I needed to have you, but I've never been really good with people. I figured the only way to make sure you noticed me was if you hated me; despised me. I made you think I was a bigger asshole than I truly am, but it was all part of my plan. The problems came after, because I realized I didn't know how to fix it." He smirked, his eyes going back to Naruto's. "You just gave me the perfect opportunity."

Naruto just stared at him a long while, Sasuke waiting for him to say something. "I've never heard you say so much before."

Sasuke sighed, bowing his head. _All that, and the idiot comments on how many words I spoke._ He shook his head. The blond was hopeless.

"So—you like me?" Sasuke looked back up at Naruto. "So to make me notice you, you made me hate you." he said slowly. "That makes _no_ sense."

"Well, I wasn't exactly thinking straight." Sasuke admitted with a slight smirk.

"Obviously, or else you wouldn't like me." Naruto grinned. It took a second for Sasuke to figure out what he meant until he thought about his 'thinking straight' comment. He chuckled slightly, shaking his head.

"Since we're professionals now, I was thinking maybe you could ignore my past actions and we might be able to—well, not start over, exactly, but you know, be friends."

"I have a feeling you want to be more than just friends." Naruto looked down between their bodies, Sasuke following his gaze. He didn't even blush as his eyes caught his erection digging into Naruto—mostly because the other was starting to get a tent, too.

"You don't seem too opposed to it." Sasuke looked back at him with a grin.

"I always thought you were sexy." Naruto grinned back. "But you were an asshole."

"Well, I guess I'll have to change that."

The raven leaned in and pressed his lips against Naruto's, the blond reciprocating the kiss. Naruto's tan arms wrapped themselves around Sasuke's neck as the raven's hands let the other's shirt go to grab the blond's waist. As the kiss intensified, the two started getting rougher until Sasuke was practically slamming Naruto into the wall, grinding their clothed erections together.

It was five minutes later that Kiba and Gaara rounded the corner, both freezing at the sight in front of them. Kiba blinked a few times while Gaara just stared, his face expressionless.

"Okay—correct me if I'm wrong, but weren't those two at each other's throats an hour ago?" Kiba asked his friend.

"Yes, they were." the redhead supplied.

"Right, so..." Kiba motioned the two boys making out. _"How the fuck did **this **happen?!"_

**END.**


	35. I Have Never

#34)  
Requested by: Hikari Kaiya  
Characters: All seven, plus Shino.  
Situation: All of them are at Naruto's apartment playing a drinking game entitled "I have never".  
Pairings: SasuNaru, GaaLee (main), KibaShino, NejiShika

**

* * *

A/N: For the sake of this one-shot, and the fact that "I have never" is a drinking game, Lee will NOT go insane when he drinks alcohol.**

* * *

As Gaara looked around his blond friend's apartment, taking in the sight of almost all the drunk people sitting in the same circle as him, he had to wonder what had possessed him to agree to this idiotic idea.

He grabbed the beer in front of him and took a sip as he waited for whoever was next to start talking. He'd lost track of whose turn it was, but knew it wasn't his own, so he figured waiting would be the best thing to do.

Lee tilted slightly to the side, resting his head on Gaara's shoulder and sighing. The redhead just let an almost invisible smile cross his features at the warmth the other radiated. He resisted the urge to take the tipsy raven home and ravish him, but it was hard.

"Go, Naruto, it's your turn!" Kiba hollered, four empty bottles of beer in front of him as he worked on a fifth. He wasn't drunk yet, but he was definitely getting there.

"All right." Naruto hissed back as he held his bottle close to his lips, only having finished one so far. He was surprisingly good at this game—or rather, he was so sheltered nothing anyone said pertained to him.

"Go!" Kiba exclaimed again.

"Fine!" Naruto hollered back. "Never have I ever gotten a—curse seal."

Everyone looked at Sasuke as he grumbled about that being a direct attack. He took a sip of his beer, wiping his mouth across the back of his hand. "But wait, doesn't Neji count?"

"Mine's not a curse seal, it's a submission seal." Neji replied coolly.

"Then how come Shika's not top?" Naruto snickered, the lazy nin giving him a half-hearted glare.

"Because he's too lazy to work for it." Neji replied with a smirk that rivalled Sasuke's.

"Can we move on?" Gaara asked, trying not to betray how impatient he was.

"Never have I ever had a demon to host in my body." Neji said as he leaned back against the couch.

"That was a personal attack, too." Naruto stuck his tongue out before taking a large sip of beer, Gaara following suit.

"Never have I ever failed a test at the Academy."

"You guys are so mean!" Naruto hollered, looking at Shikamaru before taking a sip of beer again. He then glared at Kiba, as if daring him to attack him personally, too.

"Never have I ever—uh... had... um... Never have I ever had another guy's dick in my mouth!" Kiba said proudly, as if happy with his statement.

Everyone sitting in the circle shifted uncomfortably, Naruto looking down into his beer while Lee played with the end of his leg-warmers. It was common knowledge to everyone in the room that they were all gay, and all couples, but to actually have a question like that thrown out in the open was a little weird.

Finally, after about thirty seconds, Sasuke sighed and brought his beer to his lips, taking a large swallow. Naruto, as if relieved, took a sip of his own beer as well before smirking at Sasuke and kissing his cheek. The Uchiha just rolled his eyes.

After they'd taken their sips, everyone else seemed to think it was all right to admit it, so Shino, Neji, Shikamaru, Gaara and Lee followed suit. Kiba just grinned at them all as he watched them drink. He'd enjoyed their uncomfortableness.

A poke to the ribs forced Kiba to look away from the others and turn to his boyfriend, who was pointing at the dog-boy's beer. "You lied. Chug your drink."

"It was worth it." Kiba grinned as he took his half-full bottle of beer and downed the whole thing. He coughed once he was done, shaking his head as if to clear it. It just made his vision swim even more.

"Never have I ever been scared of bugs." Shino smirked behind his high collar. He watched as Naruto and Kiba both took sips of their drinks, everyone giving Kiba a weird look.

"What? They used to freak me out. I got used to them." He smirked.

"Me next!" Lee's hand shot into the air as he gave a blinding smile. "Never have I ever had—cavities!"

The only one to drink was Neji, who admitted to having a sweet tooth. Naruto snickered, not able to picture the Hyuuga eating sweets. He always figured that the stoic, stuck-up, prince-complex guys hated sweets, but he should've known better considering how much Sasuke liked chocolate. Gaara, himself, was often seen sucking on lollipops.

"Huh." Naruto said. "Must be a stoic bastard thing." Kiba snickered at the comment.

"Your turn, Gaara." Lee grinned at him.

"Never have I ever wanted to screw Lee so badly as I do now." The redhead said before chugging his drink and standing up. "Let's go."

Sand appeared around Lee and the boy let out a shocked cry as he was lifted into the air, being carried out after the Sand shinobi.

"Gaara! Wait!" Lee exclaimed, the door slamming behind them.

The other six in the room stared at the closed front door, Naruto chuckling nervously. "I guess the party's over."

"Not quite." Sasuke smirked as he stood and grabbed Naruto's arm, yanking him to his feet, as well. "You can all find your own ways out, right?" He dragged the blond towards the room.

"Sa-Sasuke! Wait!"

The other four quickly made their way out of the apartment, the two semes dragging their ukes home for some fun of their own.

**END.**


	36. Overboard

#35)  
Requested by: Kyubii-Sensei  
Characters: Neji and Sasuke  
Situation: Neji and Sasuke are both sitting in a bar, angsting about their lives, when they get into an argument over whose problems are worse.  
Requirement: The bar must blow up.  
Pairings: No Pairings.**

* * *

Disclaimer: It's still two am. They're still not mine. K. Masashi can have 'em... for now... until I'm awake again. **

* * *

Uchiha Sasuke sat calmly at the local bar of Konoha, a cup filled with sake in his hand as he sipped it slowly while staring at the wooden counter. He would sigh on occasion before taking another sip and shaking his head, muttering about something or other under his breath. 

He'd been there for about four hours, and it was as it almost reached five that a very dirty, bloody, and angry Hyuuga Neji stormed into that very same bar, falling down on the stool beside Sasuke and ordering the strongest stuff they had. The bartender put a glass in front of Neji and poured him some shoshu(1). When he went to leave, Neji grabbed the bottle, telling him to leave it. The bartender shrugged before muttering something about it being Neji's funeral, and then turned to wander off and serve someone else.

"Rough day?" Sasuke asked as he poured more sake into his cup, surprisingly sober, despite everything he'd had to drink since he'd arrived.

"The worst." Neji replied before taking a large swallow of shoshu. The two sat in silence for a while before Sasuke turned to him again.

"What happened?"

"None of your business, Uchiha." was the smooth reply.

"I know, I'm just bored." Sasuke replied, sipping his sake. "Besides, it can't be half as bad as my problems."

"Oh, really?" Neji turned to glare at him. "I don't believe you. Mine are far worse than yours."

"Were you absent from Konoha for almost four years?" Sasuke smirked. "It took a long time for me to get this mission I just went on. The villagers still don't trust me."

"And whose fault is that?" Neji asked dryly before sipping his shoshu again. "At least you don't have a submissive seal."

"You're right, I have a curse seal instead." Sasuke stated dryly. Neji turned to glare at him.

"My father was killed by his own brother!"

"My whole family was killed by _my _brother!"

"I'm in love with someone who hates me!"

"So am I!"

"People often mistake me for a girl!"

"I get that all the time!"

Neji paused, trying to think of another. Sasuke beat him to it.

"I have a fangirl posse!"

"You should be thrilled." Neji insisted. "After all, doesn't every guy wish women would throw themselves at his feet?"

"You get a fanbase and let me know." Sasuke grumbled, downing some more sake. "Besides, I'm stuck with an idiot like Naruto."

"I've got Lee."

Sasuke paused, and sighed. "Fine, you've got me there."

Neji smirked before drinking some more, trying to find something else to shove in Sasuke's face. "I had to take the Jounin exam four times before I passed it."

"Seven." Sasuke replied. "_And_ I'm stuck with Kakashi."

"I've got Gai."

"Kakashi's worse."

"Gai's an idiot! How is Kakashi worse?"

"He's a pervert! He always talks about sex!"

Neji jumped to his feet, his fists clenching. "You always think your life is worse than everyone else's because of your brother! The world doesn't revolve around you, Sasuke!"

"Oh, really?!" The Uchiha slammed his hands on the bar to help him stand, glaring at the Hyuuga. "Well just because you're some reject Hyuuga who thinks he's heir when he's not doesn't give you the right to mouth off at me!"

Neji's eyes widened in anger.

"_Kaiten!"_

"_Chidori!"_

* * *

Tsunade sighed as he put the complaint down and looked at the two Jounin in front of her. She rubbed her temples, closing her eyes. 

"So let me get this straight." She paused, sighing again. "You both got into an argument, and thought it would be appropriate to have an all-out fight in the middle of a public bar?"

"We weren't thinking clearly." Neji replied honestly.

"I'm not going to let either of you blame it on the alcohol." Tsunade muttered as she looked back down at the complaint. "You injured seven people, destroyed over two hundred alcoholic beverages, and blew up the entire bar. What have you got to say for yourselves?"

Both were silent for a long while as they tried to think of the best possible answer. At almost the exact same time, they came up with the same idea. Both men pointed to the other before saying,

"He's got issues."

Tsunade hit the floor.

**END.**

* * *

(1) Apparently, it's a Japanese liquor similar to vodka. 


	37. Opposites

#36)  
Requested by: Narasha-Leona  
Characters: All seven  
Situation: Opposite Day. All their personalities get switched around while they're on a mission.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

**

* * *

**

A/N: Okay... this is hard to show when writing, cause if I say "Naruto said." I actually mean Naruto's body and not his mind and... GAH! Basically, I'm gonna tell you the person people SEE talking, but I'll let y'all try and figure out who's who ;P I'll leave the legend at the end for you to check your answers XD

Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.

* * *

"What do you _mean_ that jutsu switched our minds around?!" Shikamaru had his hands buried in the front of Lee's green jumpsuit, shaking him wildly. "Change it back!"

"Will you calm down, dobe!" Neji snapped at Shikamaru, the pony-tailed boy turning to Sasuke angrily.

"Shut up!"

"I didn't say anything!" was the hurt reply, Sasuke pouting and crossing his arms.

"Right." Shikamaru gave him an apologetic look before scanning the other faces. He blinked. "Which one of you is Sasuke?"

"Does it really matter?" Naruto was leaning against a tree, his arms crossed and his eyes closed. "I think our top priority right now is to find out how to switch us all back."

"Agreed." Kiba stated, his face devoid of any expression.

"You all must calm down and enjoy this spiritous occasion that is allowing us to know one another on a deeper level!" Gaara bounced around the clearing, falling face first on the ground after a few seconds before groaning. "This gourd is heavy. I admire your strength, Gaara-san!"

Lee pulled Shikamaru's hands off the front of his jumpsuit, shifting uncomfortably as it rode up in the back, but saying nothing about it. He fell to the ground with a deep sigh, leaning back against a tree trunk and looking up through the leaves at the sky.

"Mendokuse. Who knows if there's even a way to reverse this."

"Nani?!" Shikamaru shrieked, horrified.

"Shut up, dobe!" Neji smacked Shikamaru across the back of the head before crossing his arms. "You're so loud, and your screaming isn't helping."

"Screw you!" Shikamaru turned and landed a solid blow to Neji's face. Naruto let out a small gasp before rushing across the clearing and pushing Shikamaru away from the Hyuuga.

"Don't punch my body, you idiot!" Naruto hollered angrily. "Punch _his_!" He pointed at Sasuke.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Sasuke waved his hands in front of his face in a panic. "I didn't do anything! Don't hit me while I'm in Sasuke's body because he's being a jerk!"

"This is so confusing." Lee sighed, then shrugged. "Well, we may as well just wait for everything to get back to normal. I don't know if it'll wear off after a few hours or what, but there's nothing we can do except wait."

"Shouldn't we return to the village?" Sasuke asked, rubbing the back of his head.

"Don't mess up my hair!" Neji exclaimed, Sasuke ignoring him.

"Theoretically, returning to the village could cause a panic." Kiba stated monotonously, his arms still crossed.

"How so?" Sasuke frowned.

"Many people would drop dead if they saw _me_ doing _that_." Kiba motioned Gaara, who was doing pull-ups on one of the tree branches, and shouting out idiotic things like, "If I don't reach one-hundred pull ups, then I must do two-hundred crunches!"

"Fair enough." Sasuke nodded.

"Whoa!" All of them turned to Shikamaru—except Gaara, who was still doing pull ups—and saw his shadows growing and shrinking. "This is wicked! Shika, Shika, how do I control it?!"

"Do us all a favour and don't." Lee sighed. "Mendokuse."

"Yeah, Neji, how do you walk in a straight line?" Neji narrowed his eyes as he looked around. "I always thought this three-hundred and sixty degree vision had an on-off switch. It's weird being able to see all around myself." He rubbed his eyes. "It's giving me a headache."

"You want weird, try wearing a jacket in the middle of summer." Naruto pulled at his collar. "How do you ever _survive_ in this, Naruto?"

"Practice." Shikamaru grinned widely, putting both hands behind his head.

"Okay, don't ever do that again." Lee said from his position on the ground. "My face looks terrifying."

"Really? I always thought you'd look better with a smile on your face." Shikamaru grinned again.

"Seriously, stop it." Lee insisted.

"Speaking of weird, seeing Naruto all stoic is kind of creepy. Can't you crack a smile or something?" Sasuke poked the blond. He got punched in the face.

"Hey!" Neji hollered. "Don't hit me!"

"Gah, this is horrible!" Shikamaru started tugging on his hair.

"Hey, hey! Stop that!" Lee exclaimed angrily. "It takes a long time to get my hair into that kind of ponytail!"

"_There_ you are!" All of them turned and paled as Ino huffed and came storming towards Shikamaru. "I've been looking all over for you. You were all meant to be back at the village three hours ago!"

She slapped Shikamaru soundly across the face.

"Ow!" He cried out, clutching his cheek. "That hurt!"

"Suck it up, dobe." Neji muttered.

"Screw you, teme!" Shikamaru hurled himself at Neji, only to have Naruto jump in the way and push him back.

"Don't hit me!" Naruto hollered. "Hit Sasuke!"

"Don't hit me!" Sasuke panicked. "Hit Shikamaru! The slap was meant for him, anyway!"

"My youthful friends!" Gaara jumped out of the tree. "We must not attack one another, as it is not fair, since we are not entirely ourselves!"

Ino stared at them all confused before slowly backing away. She valued her sanity, and what she saw right now was going to drive her insane.

"I'll just send Sakura to come get them." She nodded to herself. "Sakura will be able to handle it."

The seven shinobi were left out in the forest the whole night.

**END.**

**

* * *

A/N: Ow, my head. **

* * *

**Lengend: (Please refrain from being me, aka perverted)  
**Kiba is in Sasuke's body  
Neji is in Naruto's body  
Sasuke is in Neji's body  
Gaara is in Kiba's body  
Shikamaru is in Lee's body  
Lee is in Gaara's body  
Naruto is in Shikamaru's body 


	38. Look at the Clouds

#37)  
Requested by: avila7989  
Characters: Naruto and Shikamaru  
Situation: Naruto and Shikamaru are cloud-gazing when they confess their affection for one another.  
Pairings: ShikaNaru

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

Shikamaru watched the clouds go by overhead as he lay down in the grass in the middle of the training grounds. They were moving slowly today, the wind barely blowing across his face. He let out a sigh as he shifted, laying his legs out flat and crossing them at the ankles as he took his hands out from under his head. He was blocking circulation to his fingers. 

He heard heavy footfalls from behind him and sighed, hoping it wasn't Ino coming to tell him off, as usual. Instead, someone fell down beside him with a long sigh. "I love doing this."

Shikamaru turned his head, stunned, but not allowing his shock to show on his face. "Naruto?"

"Hm?" He turned to look at Shikamaru, then grinned. "How's it going?"

"Why are you here?" the Chuunin grumbled as he looked back up at the sky. "So troublesome."

Actually, the only thing that was troublesome about the whole situation was that Shikamaru didn't know if he'd be able to control himself with the blond so close to him. When he'd first met Naruto, he'd thought the same thing as everybody else: Naruto was an idiot. But, as time went by, and the more they hung out, he realized that there was something about the blond that was just so—appealing.

Maybe it was the way he was always so full of energy, or the way he was so determined and kind. It was impossible to hate him, even if you tried your hardest. That, and admittedly, the boy was gorgeous.

"I'm here, Shikamaru, because the sky looks exceptionally gorgeous today." Naruto grinned, closing his eyes as the sun shone right over their heads. Shikamaru brought one hand up to shield his eyes, waiting for clouds to cover the sun once more so he could put his hand down.

He turned his head to glance at Naruto, only to blush and look away. The blond looked even more radiant in the sunshine, his hair as yellow as the sun itself, while the blue of his eyes made the sky look dull and boring. Shikamaru knew he would never grow tired of looking into Naruto's eyes if given the chance to stare long enough.

But he was too afraid. Too afraid to let the blond know of his feelings. He'd tried telling him once, over a bowl of ramen, but people kept interrupting, so he'd given up.

_Then again,_ the Chuunin sat up and looked around. It was a busy day, and most of their friends were out on missions. If he wanted to be alone with Naruto when he told him this, why not now? The conditions were perfect, after all. It was a gorgeous day, he and Naruto were alone, and they had a small chance of being interrupted.

The genius thought everything over in his head, going over all the different scenarios, and preparing himself for the worst. With a sigh, he lay down on his back again, watching the sky once more now that the sun's harsh rays were hidden behind clouds. Naruto's eyes were still closed as he lay completely still, letting the wind ruffle his hair and jacket.

"Ne, Naruto." The blond turned to him. "You remember a few weeks back when I bought you ramen?"

Naruto shot up, a huge grin on his face. "Are you treating me again?"

The Chuunin couldn't help but chuckle at the blond's eagerness. "Maybe later, but I want to talk, first."

"Oh, okay." Naruto lay back down, a definite pout on his lips. "What's up?"

Shikamaru sighed, knowing this was going to cause more trouble than it was worth. "I invited you out that day because I wanted to talk to you about something. Everyone kept interrupting us, so I figured now would be a good time to continue that conversation, since no one's around. I like you." Nara Shikamaru, as blunt as ever.

"Okay." Naruto said as he stared at the sky. It took ten whole seconds for the words to sink in, and his eyes widened when they finally did. He jerked up into a sitting position, turning to look at the Chuunin with a blush dusting his cheeks. "Wh-what?!"

"I like you."

"You're joking!"

"Why would I joke about something like that?"

Naruto just blinked at him, at a complete loss for words. His mouth opened and closed a few times, but nothing would come out. He didn't understand. How could Shikamaru _possibly_ like _him_?!

The blond had always admired Shikamaru for both his abilities as a leader, and his genius, and although he wasn't entirely gay, he could admit to having had the occasional fantasy about the pony-tailed Chuunin. He silently wondered what it would be like to be with Shikamaru. The other was as lazy as ever, so most of the energy would have to come from Naruto, but he had tons to spare, anyway.

With a sigh, Shikamaru stood up, dusting off the back of his pants. "Forget I said anything. It was stupid of me to have said that to you."

He was about to walk away when Naruto tugged on his pants. Shikamaru turned, seeing the blond staring at the ground, his face practically as red as a tomato. "Um, when you say you like me, do you mean, um—_like_ like?"

"As in just short of love?" Naruto nodded. "Then yes. I've had my eye on you for a while, I just never really did anything about it." The raven shoved his hands into his pockets as he regarded Naruto with a cool air, even though his heart was beating at an insanely fast pace in his chest.

The blond suddenly stood, his head still bowed as he shuffled closer to Shikamaru. "Um, I've always liked you as a friend, and—well..." he took a deep breath. "If-if you want to try and be—_more_, can you kiss me first? Just so I know what it's like?"

Shikamaru just about fell over, his shock showing clearly on his face. Naruto wanted him to _kiss_ him?!

_Well, what are you waiting for?!_ a voice in his head hollered, shaking him free of his shock. _Kiss him, already! You've been wanting to do this since the Chuunin exam, so hurry up and do it, before he changes his mind!_

Shikamaru took that voice's advice, moving forward and caressing one of Naruto's cheeks. The blond leaned into the touch, his eyes closed. Shikamaru felt his heart skip a beat. He pressed his body up against Naruto's, his other hand on the blond's hip. Naruto wrapped his arms shyly around Shikamaru's neck as the raven turned his head to the side slightly and brushed his lips against Naruto's.

He didn't do anything at first other than press lightly, but when Naruto didn't jerk away or show any signs of discomfort, he pressed on, pulling Naruto's bottom lip into his mouth and sucking on it. The blond's breath hitched at this, and Shikamaru refrained from smiling, if only to ensure the blond didn't think he was getting cocky and push him away.

Once he was done nibbling and sucking on the blond's bottom lip, he traced the seam of the other's mouth with his tongue, Naruto hesitantly opening his mouth to the insistent muscle. Shikamaru let his tongue dart into the blond's mouth, exploring it slowly. He tasted like ramen, which would make sense, since Shikamaru didn't recall ever having seen the blond eat anything else.

He ran his tongue slowly against the insides of Naruto's cheeks and the roof of his mouth, being extra careful not to touch the other's tongue. He continued this for a few seconds before finally moving his tongue downward and rubbing it gently against Naruto's, coaxing it to play.

The Kyuubi-vessel was hesitant, if only because he'd never kissed anyone before, but he eventually moved his tongue against Shikamaru's, the two rolling their tongues over each other's. He didn't find the feeling to be unpleasant. In fact, it was causing blood to pool down in the lower parts of his body.

He finally pulled away from Shikamaru, the other retracting his tongue reluctantly. When Naruto opened his eyes, he was staring into a pair of questioning—and almost afraid—brown eyes.

"Well?" Shikamaru breathed, their faces still close enough that Naruto could feel the other's breath on his lips.

"Buy me some ramen, and we can continue this at my place." the blond finally replied, and then grinned. "I hope you realize I'm going to be an expensive boyfriend."

"I knew that from the start, Naruto." Shikamaru smirked. "But that's what makes you cute."

**END.**


	39. What About the Money?

#38)  
Requested by: DeathjunkE  
Characters: Gaara, Kiba, Naruto and Neji.  
Situation: Fifty dollars to the first person who can make Gaara laugh. Neji wins due to slipping in some moss and landing face-first in a pile of mud.  
Pairings: No Pairings.  
Spoiler: YES if you haven't seen Shippuuden yet.

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

"There's no way you could do it." 

"Yes way. It's not impossible."

"Seriously, there's no way." Kiba shook his head as he took another bite of ramen.

"Everyone laughs for one reason or another, we just haven't found his weakness yet." Naruto picked up his bowl and slurped down the broth, licking his lips before shouting for another.

"Naruto, any other person, I would believe you. Neji, Sasuke, Shino; hell, even Shikamaru, and we know he's too lazy to laugh. But Gaara? No way."

"Hey, I could totally do it." Naruto grinned.

"Naruto." They turned as Neji entered the stand. "Hokage-sama is looking for you. She wants you to stay with Gaara today."

"Ano sa, Neji." Naruto turned fully to face him. "Do you think it's possible to make Gaara laugh?"

"Everyone has their triggers, yes." Neji nodded.

"Ha!" Naruto exclaimed, grinning at Kiba. "See?"

"Naruto, I will bet you fifty dollars that you _can't_ make Gaara laugh."

"I'll see that bet!" Naruto started on his next bowl of ramen, wanting to finish it before going off to see Gaara.

"Can I join this bet?"

Naruto choked as noodles went down the wrong pipe, Kiba pounding on his back worriedly, concerned with the way Naruto's face was turning blue. After a few seconds of coughing and a sore back, Naruto could breathe again and turned to Neji. The Hyuuga hadn't moved.

"What?"

"I would like to try and make Gaara laugh, as well. If you or I make him laugh, Kiba owes fifty dollars to whoever it was who made him laugh. However, if neither of us make Gaara laugh, we each owe Kiba fifty dollars and he's up by one-hundred."

"But..." Naruto hesitated. "Neji, you can't even make _yourself_ laugh."

"We'll see." Neji smirked before looking at Kiba. "Do we have a deal?"

"Me getting one-hundred bucks? Hells yes we have a deal." Kiba held his hand out and Neji shook it. The blond then shook the brunette's hand before finishing off his ramen, paying Teuchi, and running off to Hokage tower. Neji followed him, wanting to spend the day with the Kazekage and Naruto. It would increase their chances of making Gaara laugh.

As they went, the two shinobi pondered on how to make Gaara laugh. It was hard to think of something because they always ran the risk of angering him and getting killed. Neji figured Naruto was safe, since he and Gaara were pretty good friends—or, as friendly as you _could_ be with a homicidal maniac—but he wasn't too sure about himself. He sighed, leaning against a tree outside Hokage tower.

After a few minutes, Naruto came bouncing out with Gaara, the blond seeming incredibly happy as they walked towards Neji. The Hyuuga pushed away from the tree, nodding to Gaara, who nodded back.

"So, Gaara, what do you want to do today?" Naruto asked excitedly. Gaara said nothing.

"Would you like to see a movie?" Neji asked. The redhead stared at him before nodding, the Hyuuga leading the way. Naruto rushed to walk beside Neji.

"What's your plan?"

"Comedy." Neji smirked at him.

And the movie _was_ a comedy. Naruto was laughing so hard he had tears in his eyes, and even Neji was laughing every now and then. Gaara remained as stoic as ever. This caused the two shinobi to up their efforts.

Naruto cornered Iruka and did his Harem no Jutsu. Neji almost died laughing at poor Iruka's reaction, but Gaara's facial expression didn't change.

The two of them tried everything they could think of: pushing one another into lakes, tripping each other, telling jokes and stories—nothing worked. Four hours later found the three of them wandering through the forest, Neji and Naruto exhausted and out of ideas.

"Neji, this isn't working." Naruto whined as Gaara trailed along behind them.

"We can't give up now."

"But we have no ideas!" Naruto hissed. "I mean, I can see him laughing while killing someone, but that's not exactly the kind of laughing Kiba was talking about."

"Well, what if we tr—" Neji cut himself off as his foot landed on a patch of moss, the Hyuuga losing his balance. Naruto gasped and reached out to grab him, but he was too late. Neji fell face-first into a large pile of mud.

"Neji! Are you okay?!"

The proud Hyuuga lifted his head, nodding, ignoring the gunk caked on his face. He started to stand with Naruto's help when they both froze, a sound floating towards them from behind.

Hardly able to believe it, both turned around to greet the sight of Gaara doubled over and laughing his ass off. He was hitting his knee with one hand as he struggled to inhale oxygen so he could laugh some more.

"Well, looks like we won." Neji commented as he wiped at his eyes to get rid of some of the mud.

"Yeah... but now how do we make him stop?" Naruto asked fearfully.

The two leaf shinobi left Gaara in the forest, alone, and laughing. It was the most terrifying sight in the world.

**END.**


	40. Blind Spot

#39)  
Requested by: DeathjunkE  
Characters: Neji, Gaara, Hinata and Naruto.  
Situation: Hinata lets slip that Neji doesn't have 360 degree vision, and that he has a blind spot.  
Pairings: No Pairings.  
Spoiler: Yes (Unless you've seen Shippuuden).

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.

* * *

**"Why did you have to tag along?" Naruto whined as he threw a pebble at the back of Neji's head. The Hyuuga dodged it easily. "Hinata and I wanted to train _alone_." 

"How can you train alone if you're together?"

"Alone _together_!" Naruto threw another pebble, which Neji dodged again.

Neji had been assigned the task of watching Gaara while the Kazekage was in the village, the ANBU having agreed. The two of them now walked a few paces ahead of a disgruntled Naruto and shy Hinata.

"I can't leave my cousin alone with a man, it isn't proper."

"She's alone with Kiba and Shino all the time!"

"That's different."

Naruto let out an annoyed cry before throwing all his remaining pebbles at Neji in succession. The Hyuuga dodged all of them—except the last one. It slammed into the back of the ANBU's head, making him stumble slightly. Naruto cocked an eyebrow. The only reason he'd been throwing rocks at Neji to begin with was because he knew the other could dodge them.

"Too quick for you, there, Neji?" Naruto grinned.

"Oh, no. You just caught him in his blind spot."

Naruto and Gaara stared at Hinata as Neji's eyes widened and he whipped around, hoping she hadn't _actually_ said that.

"What?"

"Huh?" Hinata looked at Naruto, then her eyes widened and she slammed both hands over her mouth. "Nii-san, I'm sorry!"

"You have a blind spot?" Naruto grinned.

"Everyone has their weaknesses." Gaara commented. "I didn't believe I'd ever find yours."

"So, what, you have three-hundred and _fifty_ degree vision instead of three-hundred and sixty?" Naruto bounced forward, waving his hands on either side of Neji's head, as if to find his blind spot. Neji punched him in the head, Naruto clutching it with both hands and whimpering. Neji just glared.

"Forget she said anything." he ordered.

"Should you not be more concerned about your weakness?" Gaara asked, following Neji since the other had started walking again.

"I _am_ concerned. I practice improving all the time." Neji muttered.

"Oh?" Gaara asked, his arms crossed as he kept Neji's speedy pace, Hinata and Naruto falling behind.

"I always—" Neji cut himself off, glaring at Gaara. "I can't tell you, you're from Sand!"

"We are allies." Gaara insisted. "And you are obviously the only one with this weakness, or Hinata wouldn't have said anything."

Neji cursed internally but still refused to speak. Gaara blinked before saying something that almost made Neji fall over.

"I'll tell you my weakness."

"That wouldn't be wise, Kazekage-sama." Neji insisted.

"You and I are allies. It doesn't concern me to share such information with you. Naruto is aware of it, and I know that when he becomes Hokage, the two of us will protect one another no matter what, so I'm not too concerned with Leaf knowing of my weakness. It will mean both you and I can help one another if the situation ever arose."

Neji had to admit, Gaara had a point. He sighed, and explained his technique of condensing chakra around his blind spot so he would be able to sense a disruption and move accordingly. Gaara admired his ability to give up chakra in order to do this, since the Hyuuga already used a lot of chakra for his various jutsus.

"And yours?" Neji inquired.

"Water." (1)

"What?" the Hyuuga asked.

"Water thickens the sand and makes it hard to control."

Neji had to admit, he'd never imagined the Kazekage could even _have_ a weakness. But then again, everyone had their weaknesses. Hinata's was her shyness, Gaara's was water, Naruto's was Sasuke, and Neji's—his blind spot.

But they also all tried their best to overcome their weaknesses, and Neji had succeeded. All he had left to do now was help his cousin with hers. The Hyuuga turned around to look at her, and froze when he noticed both she and Naruto were gone.

"Uzumaki!"

**END.**

* * *

(1) Yes, I got this idea from the most recent filler arc, which, OMG! Was the last filler EVERRRRRRR!!! 


	41. High School Blows Goat Chunks

#40)  
Requested by: NanariUchiha  
Characters: Naruto and Sasuke  
Situation: AU. Sasuke has told Naruto that he loves him many times, but the blond keeps on rejecting him. One day, Sasuke finds out a secret about Naruto and blackmails him into dating, the school being the first place they're to show their affections for one another.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.

* * *

**Naruto Uzumaki let out a deep, annoyed sigh as his eyebrow twitched. He turned around in the middle of the corridor, pointed one finger at a row of lockers, and started shouting. 

"I know you're there, you idiot! Stop following me all the fucking time, you're driving me insane!"

A few people passed him, giving him weird looks, but he didn't care. He knew he was there. Whenever Naruto felt all the hairs on the back of his neck rise, oh, he knew. That meant an annoyingly self-centered prick with an obsession with him was watching him. Always.

A black-haired boy the same age as Naruto pulled away from the wall, the lockers having obscured him from view. He looked up at Naruto through his bangs with that arrogant smirk the blond hated so much, his hands shoved deep in his pockets. Sasuke Uchiha, the most popular guy in school, sought after by all the girls and gay boys, and even some of the straight ones. Bi-sexual, though preferring the male side.

Oh, and Naruto's obsessed stalker.

"I wouldn't have to follow you if you would let me be seen in your company."

"Who the hell talks like that?!" Naruto exploded, tugging on his blond locks angrily. "I wish I could teleport! That way, I could escape from you whenever you came anywhere _near_ me!"

"It can all end, Naruto." Sasuke sauntered closer. Naruto took a few steps back, glaring. He hated being too close to Sasuke. "I've been telling you of my feelings for years, yet you insist on rejecting me."

"Cause you're a psycho stalker freak!" Naruto hollered.

"I love you, Naruto Uzumaki, and whether you're straight or not makes no difference to me. I won't stop until you're mine."

Naruto let out a cry of frustration before turning on his heel and storming off down the corridor, gripping the strap of his messenger bag angrily. This had been going on since Naruto transferred into the school in the tenth grade. They would be graduating in about two months, and Sasuke was _still_ chasing him.

The blond was just thankful that once school ended, he'd never have to see Sasuke ever again. Though honestly, he doubted the raven would give up so easily. He'd probably pay his way to get into the same university as Naruto. The blond shuddered at the possibility. Four more years of Sasuke? He'd rather die!

As he slammed into the cafeteria, he stormed towards a table where a solitary teacher sat, reading a book with glasses riding low on the bridge of his nose, a coffee in one hand. He slammed both fists down on the table in front of the teacher, the man not even jumping as he simply finished the sentence he was reading before looking up. It was easy to know it would be Naruto. This happened almost every day.

"Mr. Uchiha, is there _any_ possible way you can get your brother to leave me alone? Seriously. He's driving me absolutely insane!"

"He hasn't stopped in the past, what makes you believe my talking to him today will be any different than all the other days I've talked to him?"

"Oh, come on." Naruto whined. "Seriously, there has to be _something_ you can do! He's your brother! Ground him, or something!"

"I should ground my brother for having a healthy interest in someone?" Itachi cocked an eyebrow.

"He stalks me!" Naruto exploded. "How is that healthy?!"

"I see no problem with it."

Naruto let out another frustrated scream as he turned away from Itachi. "Gah! Uchihas!" He stormed towards the lineup to get food. This was going to be another one of those days.

* * *

Sasuke growled angrily to himself as he drove around town. It was almost midnight, and he _still_ couldn't find Naruto. The blond always managed to disappear between eight at night and three in the morning, and no matter how close of an eye Sasuke kept on him, he always evaded him. It was annoying, really. 

Sighing in frustration, Sasuke stopped the car in a random parking lot, leaning back in his chair and glaring at the wheel, as if the reason nothing was going his way was the wheel's fault. He huffed, hitting his head against the back of his seat a few times before turning his head and looking out the window. He frowned and leaned forward again as he noticed Naruto's car in the same parking lot. He knew it was the blond's car because he recognized the license plate.

"Fuck me." he whispered as he got out of the car and slammed the door.

The Uchiha looked at the area he was parked in, and realized it was a strip club's parking lot. _The dobe is at a strip club? For some reason, I don't see it._ Sasuke shook his head and flipped his keys in his hand before sauntering towards the entrance. He only hoped it wouldn't take him forever to find him.

He got inside and had to push through a group of girls who were fawning all over a male stripper. Sasuke looked around the huge area, noting both male and female strippers. He nodded, pleased with this. At least he could ogle both sexes while he looked for his blond.

Deciding to get a drink, he walked up to the bar and flashed his fake ID to get a beer. Once it was handed to him, he called out to the bartender, who leaned closer to him so he could hear over the music.

"I'm looking for someone. It's a guy, about my height. Blond hair, blue eyes." Sasuke knew it was a long shot, but he figured he'd ask, anyway.

"Naruto?" the bartender called back over the music. Sasuke's eyes lit up. The blond must've been a regular for the bartender to know him.

"Yeah."

"He's on in ten." Sasuke frowned.

"What?"

The bartender had gone to serve someone else before answering Sasuke's confused question. He didn't understand what the man meant. Were there ten floors? Or was this place maybe divided into sections? Had he even heard him right? _Great,_ Sasuke sighed, annoyed, and turned around, scanning the crowd. He started weaving through the sea of people, making it to a seat and sitting down while he scanned the crowd, looking for his blond.

Every once in a while, someone would come up to him and ask him something or another, but he just ignored them and kept looking for Naruto. He was just about ready to give up and leave when the lights went out and all the strippers around the club left their posts, only to be replaced by other strippers. Sasuke waited for the lights to come back on before moving, worried about getting trampled or something.

Once it was bright enough again, he stood and started towards the door, glancing around at the new strippers. He almost tripped on his own feet as he noticed Naruto on one corner of the stage wearing much less clothing than Sasuke was used to seeing him in. _So **that's** what the bartender meant! Naruto is—oh my God, Naruto **works** here as a **stripper**!_

The thought of Naruto stripping for other people made Sasuke insanely jealous. With a growl, he made his way forcefully towards the blond, shoving past men and women, and ignoring them when they called out angrily after him. He stopped in front of the stage, Naruto busy gyrating his hips towards some random girl's face.

After a few seconds, he turned around, and his eyes locked with Sasuke's. The blond froze on stage, staring wide-eyed at the Uchiha before he leapt off the platform he was standing on and dashed towards a door near the back. Sasuke chased after him, catching up with him just a few feet away from the door.

He grabbed the blond's arm and pushed him back against the wall, Naruto staring at him, horrified.

"You work at a strip club?" Sasuke almost smirked. Almost. He was a little too mad to tease Naruto, though.

"Not all of us are rich, asshole." Naruto snapped. "It's the only way for me to pay for my apartment."

Sasuke's lip twitched and he looked around. He realized why Naruto worked there without having to worry. All of the people in their school were underage, and he couldn't picture any of the teachers coming to the strip club, so Naruto was safe from being discovered. All of that changed, though, that day, when Sasuke Uchiha decided to walk in.

"You're not going to tell anyone, are you?" Naruto asked, sounding almost desperate.

The raven opened his mouth to confirm that he would keep Naruto's dirty little secret, but then paused as a thought went through his mind. He grinned wickedly as he released Naruto's arm, the blond staring at him, confused.

"I won't tell anyone—provided you offer me something in return."

"What do you want?" Naruto asked, too panicked to think about what the raven might want.

Sasuke smirked and leaned forward, his lips brushing against Naruto's ear. "You."

The blond pushed Sasuke away, his eyes wide as he stuttered. No coherent thoughts were going through his mind, and his stuttering was too low for the other teenager to hear him, anyway. _Me? He wants me? I have to be—be **his**? Is it even worth it?! Would it be so bad if people found out about this?_

Who was he kidding, of _course_ it would be bad. He didn't want his friends to know why he couldn't hang out during the weekends. He didn't want the teachers to know he was so dirt poor he had to strip for strangers and have them pay him for looking so sexy. He just—didn't have a choice.

Sighing in defeat, Naruto felt his world crumble around him. Sasuke would use this against him forever—or, until he'd had enough of him. He couldn't escape this, the Uchiha had made sure of that. The blond looked up into the raven's amused eyes, Sasuke smirking as he stood with his arms crossed, waiting for Naruto's decision. He already knew it, anyway.

"Fine." Naruto whispered, feeling his stomach turn over. "Fine, I'll go out with you, but you tell a soul about this, and I'll murder you."

"I always keep my word." Sasuke smirked.

Naruto balled his fists, feeling nervous. Was Sasuke going to want to fuck him right there? God, Naruto didn't even know what to _do_! He was straight, for fuck's sake, and now he was going to be some rich bastard's sex slave or something?! Maybe he _should_ have said no.

"So, what now?"

"Oh, no, no, no." Sasuke smirked. "We're not going to do anything right now. No, instead—meet me at the entrance to the school tomorrow morning."

"The school?" Naruto's face paled.

"Eight-thirty sharp. If you're a minute late, I'll make an announcement about you over the PA." Sasuke smirked and kissed his fingertips before putting them against Naruto's own lips, and walking away. He didn't want to kiss the blond now. He wanted to save their first kiss for a place where hundreds would see it, and he would forever be able to remember it.

* * *

Naruto paced at the school's entrance the next day, biting his thumb and glancing at the clock. It was eight twenty-seven. Where the hell was Sasuke? He'd told Naruto to meet him on time, so he'd arrived early to ensure his secret was kept safe. 

The blond started panicking as another minute went by. Had he misheard the other teen over the loud music? Had Sasuke come in another way? Was he already at the PA microphone? Was Naruto's secret going to be out?!

He froze in his steps, his blood going cold. What if Sasuke _was_ elsewhere? Waiting for him. Thinking he hadn't shown. Oh, God! The blond whipped around, his eyes scanning all the faces walking around him. Where the hell was Sasuke?!

Panic gripped him, his throat closed up. He was finding it harder and harder to breathe, and his mind was overloading. He kept thinking he heard the PA turn on, but no words ever came through the speakers. It was just his imagination. But still. _Where was Sasuke?!_

"Naruto." The blond whipped around as the raven came through the front doors, his smirk plastered on his face.

"You fucking bastard! You're late!" Naruto hollered as he stormed towards Sasuke, his worry instantly turning to anger.

"No, I'm exactly on time." He motioned the clock. Naruto didn't bother to look at it. He was about to open his mouth to yell some more when Sasuke's hand caressed his cheek. Anything Naruto might have said died instantly in his throat.

_Oh my God, he's really going to kiss me! Right here, at the front of the school, where everyone can see us!_ His mind panicked. He'd half-hoped Sasuke had been joking, but looking back on it, he should have realized the raven wasn't one to joke.

"I have been waiting three years to do this." Sasuke whispered as he inched their lips closer. Naruto just stood stiffly, waiting for it to happen and be done. Then again, he figured he should get used to it, what with Sasuke wanting to date him and all. He doubted the raven would just be intimate at school, he'd probably want to be intimate at home, too.

The Uchiha's lips pressed against his, but Naruto did nothing. Him reciprocating had _not_ been part of the deal. So, he just stood there stiffly as Sasuke's lips moved against his own, waiting for it to end.

Sasuke himself hadn't been expecting much from Naruto, but even if he had to do all the work, he wasn't going to let this end quickly for the blond. His kept his one hand against Naruto's cheek as the other wrapped itself around the blond's waist, pulling him closer so their bodies were pressed together. He pulled Naruto's lower lip between his teeth, sucking on it before letting it go again and running his tongue along the seam of the other's lips.

Naruto didn't react at all, not that Sasuke had expected him to, but the raven didn't stop there. He pushed his tongue through the seam, running it against the other's teeth, since Naruto had locked them together. The raven pulled away slightly and chuckled, bringing his lips close to Naruto's ear.

"I know I didn't say you had to reciprocate, but I think you should bear in mind that if I'm not happy, I might slip up during lunch or something. Since Sakura always eats with me, you can be sure the whole school will know by the end of the day."

"Bastard." Naruto growled, his hands balling into fists.

Sasuke just laughed before biting at the other teen's earlobe. He then brought his lips back to Naruto's and pressed his tongue into the other's mouth again. He groaned when he was granted access, rubbing his tongue against Naruto's. The blond didn't respond. He knew it would take some time before Naruto even _considered_ reciprocating the kisses, but Sasuke didn't mind. He was a patient person. He'd waited three years for this moment, after all.

_By the time we graduate, Naruto will be mine._

Sasuke knew it would be true, and Naruto did, too, even if he didn't like it.

**END.**


	42. Gimme Your Coat!

#41)  
Requested by: the most OOC writer around  
Characters: Shino and Kiba  
Situation: Kiba wonders about Shino's big, bulky coat.  
Pairings: ShinoKiba

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.

* * *

**Kiba tapped a kunai against his forehead protector as he sat in the training grounds under the comforting shade of a tree. His eyes were locked on his teammate, who seemed to be conversing with his bugs. It always weirded Kiba out when the other did that. It looked like he was just talking to himself. 

The dog-lover remembered a time where he used to tease Shino about it, but he'd never done it again when he'd woken up with the other's shikai bugs crawling all over him. Shino had insisted it was an accident, but Kiba knew it was done on purpose. That had been about two years ago during one of their first missions.

A lot had changed since then, most specifically the fact that Kiba and Shino were now dating. They had been for close to a year, but despite that, there was something about Shino that Kiba had never figured out.

Shino's coat.

Usually, they'd get all hot and bothered and do the dirty, but the coat was always taken off away from Kiba before they did anything. He'd never once actually _seen_ Shino take it off. He'd seen him with it on, and with it off, but never the actual task of him _taking_ it off.

He just didn't understand. Shino was a pretty small guy—well, not counting _that_. He was muscled, yes, and tall, but... Kiba couldn't figure it out. When he wore the coat, the other boy looked _huge_. He looked either fat, or really beefy, which just looked weird. But as soon as he took it off, it was as if he deflated or something.

There was no explainable reason as to why Shino's coat always looked so bulky. What, did he shove padding into it or something? Did he hide extra clothes in his jacket in case something happened and he needed to change? Then again, that would be stupid, since those extra clothes would _also_ be ruined.

It just—didn't make sense to Kiba. He knew it had nothing to do with his bugs, they were inside Shino's body. If anything, the coat probably made it harder for the bugs to exit.

Kiba frowned, turning his head to one side as he considered his teammate, thinking about it. Maybe it was so bulky because the bugs left his body during the day or something, and hovered inside his jacket to get some fresh air. After all, Kiba was squeamish of bugs—who'd have thunk it?—and every time they did anything, Shino assured him that the bugs were no longer in his body.

So maybe... that was where they were? Maybe the bugs clung to the inside of Shino's coat, and made it look big and bulky, but then retreated into his skin whenever he wasn't wearing it. Or stuck to his coat when he was doing things with Kiba, whichever.

The dog-boy figured he'd probably never find out, not unless Shino let him take off his coat. He wondered if he'd ever be able to do that. Shino always took Kiba's coat off, after all.

Kiba stood, then, watching as Shino came towards him, seemingly done with whatever he'd been doing.

"Finished talking to your bugs?" Kiba smirked.

Shino said nothing, his face hard to read behind his collar and sunglasses. Kiba just rolled his eyes.

"Are you ready to go?" Shino inquired.

"I've been ready all morning, bug-boy." Kiba grinned. Shino nodded and started walking, Kiba right beside him. Honestly, he couldn't have asked for a better thing, this morning.

"So, my place, or yours?" He grinned.

**END.**


	43. Cuff Me, Baby

#42)  
Requested by: cynlee  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto.  
Situation: Sasuke and Naruto are police officers, and Naruto stalks Sasuke.  
Requirement: Handcuffs.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

**A/N: I hope you like it, Cyn ;P It was funny XD**

* * *

Naruto Uzumaki took a bite of his burger as he held binoculars against his eyes, chewing slowly. He moved the binoculars to the left as he turned his head slightly, keeping them level with his eyes as his mouth opened to take another bite of his food. He put the burger down and groped around for his coke, finally finding it and taking a sip. He then put that down, too. 

Then, the blinds closed, and Naruto sighed as he let the binoculars fall from his eyes. He knew it happened every night, but he always hoped that he would forget. Sasuke Uchiha. His long-time crush.

The blond had been stalking his partner in the police force for years. Maybe almost five, considering they were both rookies when he'd started following the other man. And every night was the same. Naruto would rush to the house across the street from Sasuke's, climb the drainpipe with the ease only someone with his agility could have, and would sit behind an elevated part of the roof, using his binoculars to spy on the other man.

Of course, Sasuke did the same thing every night, too. He came home, spent about forty minutes watching television, then went to his room to work out for a bit. After that, Naruto assumed he took a shower, because that was when the blinds closed. They would open about an hour later, and Sasuke would go make himself some dinner.

Naruto was tired. He was tired of always having to wait and only be disappointed when he was denied the one thing he wanted to see: a naked Sasuke. On a brighter note, at least they were sort of friends. Naruto was probably the only person Sasuke talked to. He was the only person Sasuke really acknowledged at all, though the blond suspected it was because they were partners, and it would be hard to work well together if they didn't communicate.

Luckily for him, Sasuke was gay. He'd announced it over the radio one day when one of the operators, Sakura Haruno, kept using the radio to coo lovey-dovey things at Sasuke. He'd gotten so fed up with it he's picked up the radio, put it on a local frequency, and let the words flow from his mouth.

"I, Sasuke Uchiha, am one-hundred percent gay."

Naruto had thought it was a joke, at first, until he'd caught the Uchiha making out with some guy in a bar two nights later. His luck couldn't have been better. Being gay himself, Naruto was now one step closer to being with the Uchiha. The only problem was—how the hell he was supposed to _do_ that.

It was hard talking to Sasuke, and talking to him about _this_ was just laughable. The best Naruto could hope for was a punch to the face, provided the Uchiha didn't flat out whip out his gun and shoot him. Naruto shuddered at the thought.

All he wanted was one look. Just one little peek at a naked Sasuke, then he could go have his wet dreams in peace. It wasn't that much to ask for, not at all! He was a reasonable guy, he wasn't asking to screw Sasuke—not that he'd say no or anything—he was just hoping to catch a glimpse of him without any clothes on to satisfy his wet dreams. He was getting sick of having to imagine what the Uchiha looked like. Enough was enough, dammit!

"Guess I'll have to try again tomorrow." The blond sighed, then gathered his things so he could head home.

* * *

Naruto leaned back in his chair further, his eyes casting glances at Sasuke every now and then as the stoic raven drove. They were on patrol today, driving their cruiser around a specific part of town for a couple of hours before they could head home. So far, the night had been slow. Two drunk drivers, couple of speeders, but aside from that, there had been no action at all. Naruto was kind of depressed that nothing exciting had happened. 

He glanced at the clock between his many glances at Sasuke, and sighed. They only had another ten minutes before their shift ended, and they could head on back to the station. He couldn't wait. He was feeling optimistic about tonight. Today was the day he would see Sasuke naked. He would throw a rock through the Uchiha's window, if he had to, but honestly, this had gone on long enough. He was going to see the pale bastard naked, or die!

"You've been quiet."

Naruto was so startled that it took a conscious effort not to scream, though he did jump. He turned to look at Sasuke, wondering if he'd actually spoken, or if it had all been his imagination. When the raven looked at him briefly, though, Naruto knew he'd heard right.

"Have I?" His voice sounded high, even to his own ears. Sasuke either didn't notice, or didn't comment.

"Yeah. You usually talk my ears off." Sasuke commented as he turned a corner smoothly.

"Well, you usually don't talk at all, so maybe we're doing some kind of role reversal thing." Naruto shrugged.

Since they were talking, he turned to look at the Uchiha, admiring his muscled form and the curve of his jaw. He frowned slightly as he noticed the way Sasuke was gripping the steering wheel. All of his muscles seemed tense.

"Are you okay?"

"Fine."

"You sure? You seem a little tense, which is—unusual for you."

"I'm fine." Sasuke snapped.

Naruto just stared at him, a little put off by being snapped at, but shrugged and let it go, looking out the window.

Once their shift was done, Sasuke started back towards the station slowly. He was going so slowly that Naruto was getting impatient, but he didn't want to get snapped at again, so he kept his mouth shut. It was only when Sasuke turned into the parking lot of a 7/11 that he frowned and turned to look at Sasuke, about to ask what was going on.

He didn't get the words out because Sasuke had launched himself towards Naruto, covering his nose and mouth with what appeared to be a white cloth. The blond panicked, thinking maybe Sasuke knew about what he'd been doing over the years, and he was going to kill him. He could smell chloroform on the cloth pressed against him, and he tried to twist his head away so he wouldn't breathe it in, but no luck. His vision swam as his struggling got weaker until his eyes finally drooped shut and he relaxed, his hands falling back to his sides.

Sasuke kept the cloth there for another minute or two, just for good measure, and then pulled it away, tucking it back into his uniform. He felt a cold sweat break out across his forehead as he backed out of the parking spot and headed quickly back to the station. He still couldn't believe he'd done that, but he'd been wanting to do that for a long time, and today, he had finally gone through with it.

He loosened and tightened his grip on the steering wheel as he headed for the station, casting worried glances at Naruto. The blond looked fast asleep, and he knew everything would be fine. He could pull it off. He'd practised everything in his head numerous times, and he knew exactly what to say.

When he got to the station, he got out of the car, and Kiba Inuzuka walked up to them, laughing about Naruto having fallen asleep on the job. Sasuke hissed at him to be quiet.

"Naruto's been feeling sick lately, but he didn't want to tell anyone cause he needs these shifts." Sasuke lied, the words flowing easily from his tongue. He'd practised them a dozen times in front of the mirror. Admittedly, doing it in front of someone else was harder, but he kept his face neutral, and he was fine.

"Shit." Kiba glanced at the 'sleeping' blond. "Is he okay?"

"He should be fine, I just don't want to wake him. I'm going to punch us out, and then bring him home."

"Hey, I can do that, I mean, he's my best friend and all."

Sasuke was caught off-guard by that, thinking fast. "No, it's all right. He didn't want anyone to know how sick he was, so if he wakes up to see you, he'll be pissed at me, and having my partner upset with me isn't going to make working with him very easy."

"Yeah, I guess. Hey, I'll sign the two of you out, just take him home." Kiba headed for the station. Sasuke nodded.

"Thanks."

He went to the side of the cruiser Naruto was seated in. Kiba was still watching him as he walked towards the front door of the station, so Sasuke made a show of pretending to be trying to wake Naruto up. He even let out an aggravated sigh before pulling the blond up and over his shoulder, hoping Kiba had bought it.

Once he was out of sight, the raven hurried towards his car with the unconscious blond, putting Naruto in the passenger seat before slamming the door and running around the car. This was going to be really interesting.

* * *

Naruto's hand twitched, his eyebrows knitting together as he groaned slightly. His head lolled to the side, but he caught himself and straightened it again as he forced his heavy lids open. He had a gross aftertaste in his mouth, and when he tried to move his arms, they refused to listen. He heard a clinking sound and looked down blearily, blinking slowly before he tried to move his arms again. They were handcuffed to a chair. 

His mind was slowly starting to focus again, but he was still finding it hard to understand what had happened. He was sitting in a chair, wearing a pair of grey sweatpants that didn't belong to him, and no shirt. His hands were cuffed to the chair he was occupying, and his ankles seemed to be cuffed to the chair legs, as well. He didn't understand what was going on.

_Think, what happened? _he asked himself mentally. _I was working, with Sasuke. We were together in the cruiser. Our shift ended. We headed back to the station, and then... and then..._

_And then he knocked me out with chloroform._

His head shot up as he recalled the memory and his eyes darted around the room he occupied. It appeared to be a basement, and a chill ran down his spine. Sasuke had found out about Naruto stalking him, and now, he was going to torture him for it. Or maybe he suspected Naruto was spying on him for other purposes, and was going to torture the reason out of him. Either way, Naruto didn't like this. Not one bit.

He started struggling with his restrains, trying to get free, but all it did was make an obscene amount of noise. He grit his teeth, not wanting to alert Sasuke of his being awake. Then again, there was no way for him to know the Uchiha was standing behind him.

"Given up yet?"

Naruto stiffened, but didn't dare turn around. He was scared of what he might see. Thousands of apologies ran through his mind, but he couldn't bring himself to say any of them, worried that the mere sound of his voice would piss the Uchiha off more.

"Forgive my unconventional ways, but I'm not one to ask permission. It usually happens, or it doesn't. This was something I made happen."

"If you're going to kill me, skip the small talk and do it." Naruto said in a high voice. "Though remember, I have friends in forensics."

"Why would I kill you?"

Naruto opened his mouth to talk about his stalking, but decided against it. Maybe Sasuke didn't know? It was a long shot, but he decided not to risk it either way.

"Um, then why am I here?" He was almost nervous to find out the answer.

He almost jumped a mile high when he felt something brush against his ear. It took him a few seconds to realize it was Sasuke's lips and he suppressed a shudder, throttling the groan in his throat before it had a chance to come out and betray him.

"You're here, Naruto, because I want to fuck you."

_Wait, what?_ Naruto blinked. Had he—no, Naruto was hallucinating. Dammit, now was not the time for hallucinations!

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear that. What?"

Sasuke chuckled, the sound low and dangerous. Naruto swallowed hard, waiting for him to repeat what he'd said, knowing it would be something far more ominous. As long as Naruto got to keep his kidneys. He liked his kidneys, they fit well in his body. _Please, God, don't let him take the kidneys!_

"I said, Naruto," he licked the shell of Naruto's ear, "that I want to fuck you."

_Okay..._ The blond's brain drew a blank. _So... he doesn't know you've been stalking him for five years... and he doesn't know you want this... so... what now?_

What now, indeed. Naruto had no idea how to react to that news. It was a dream come true! Well, maybe not _exactly_, since he was usually top in his dreams, but hey, beggars can't be choosers, even Naruto knew _that_.

"Oh." he said lamely. Sasuke chuckled again.

"Oh? Is that all you have to say, Uzumaki?"

"Maybe you should give me something else to say, Sasuke." Naruto teased, a smirk forming on his face.

"I'd rather hear you scream my name."

Sasuke moved from behind Naruto, coming to stand in front of him. Naruto's jaw dropped. All those years of imagining Sasuke naked, and now, he was finally getting it. He looked even better than Naruto had imagined, and he wondered how his brain had known earlier that night that he would see Sasuke naked today. He didn't really care, to be honest, but he was still thrilled.

Sasuke smirked, holding a tube of lube in one hand, and a condom in the other. "Shall we?"

_I love you, God,_ Naruto thought happily as a wicked grin crossed his features. Tonight was going to be a good night.

**END.**


	44. Drunken Blunder

#43)  
Requested by: cynlee  
Characters: Sasuke and Neji (A bit of Naruto and Hinata, too)  
Situation: Sasuke and Neji are in a bar drowning their woes while Naruto and Hinata are out on a date together. They get around to discussing relationships and in their drunken state, admit to being in love with one of the two out on the date. Later, chaos ensues, as it so often does.  
Pairings: SasuNaru, NejiHina

* * *

**Disclaimer : K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

Neji glanced over his shoulder for what felt like the millionth time before sighing and picking up his drink. He headed towards the bar, having previously been occupying a table, and sat down beside an inebriated Sasuke, who was hollering for another drink, which the bartender refused to give him. 

"Uchiha." Neji said, not entirely sober, himself, but definitely better off than Sasuke.

The raven turned to look at him, squinting on occasion, as if trying to remember who he was. After a few seconds, it seemed to come back to him, and he turned back to him empty glass, drinking from it as if there was still something left inside. "What are you doing here?"

"Drowning my sorrows." Neji replied truthfully as he took another large sip of his drink. Sasuke watched him enviously before hollering once more for another drink. The bartender continued to ignore him.

Seeming to give up for the moment, he turned back to Neji. "Sorrows? You don't know nothing about sorrows, Hyuuga." For some reason, Neji kept wishing that Sasuke would hiccup, just because of how funny it would be. It never happened, but a Hyuuga could wish.

"Actually, I do. Why else would I be here?"

"You're not drunk enough." Sasuke insisted.

"I'm getting there, I can just hold my liquor better than you."

Sasuke laughed, shaking his head before pointing one finger at Neji. "I been here for six hours. Top that." Spittle flew from between his lips as he spoke, Neji wincing as some of it landed on the front of his shirt. He grabbed a napkin to wipe it off, but it was hard to be accurate since he could see two of everything.

"Why are you here, then? What sorrows are you drowning?"

Sasuke sighed, crossing his arms on the bar and burying his face in them. "The person I like is out with someone else."

Neji was surprised to hear this, not only because he'd never imagined Sasuke liking _anyone_, but also because that was the same reason Neji himself was there.

"Me, too." Neji muttered. Sasuke lifted his head.

"Really?"

"Yeah. She's out on a date with some—idiot." He sighed, shaking his head. It wasn't that he had anything against her date, he actually really liked him, but he was jealous that it wasn't _him_.

"Tch, same with mine. Being all shy and coy and conniving. Oh, I'd rip her head off, if I could."

Neji nodded with another sigh, about to take a sip of his drink, when he paused, frowning. "Wait, did you say 'her'?" He turned to the Uchiha. "You're in love with a guy?!"

"Are you that surprised?" Sasuke asked, holding his glass out to the bartender as the man passed. He was ignored, so Sasuke put his glass back down.

Now that Neji thought about it, it wasn't really all that surprising, considering the Uchiha never made time for any of the girls they all knew. "I guess not."

"Hn." Sasuke huffed, his chin resting on his arms as he stared intently at a bottle of booze right across from him, as if wanting to grab it and chug the whole thing.

"You know, I don't even know why I let her go on this date." Neji blurted out. "I should have said no, but I'm too nice, and I let Hinata go out with that dumbass."

Sasuke let out a small snicker. "You like Hinata?"

Neji wasn't aware of having said the name, but in his half-inebriated state, he didn't really care. "Yup."

"S'funny, she's the one I want to kill for being out with my dobe."

Neji blinked, then turned to Sasuke again, the other still having a glaring contest with the bottle of booze in front of him.

"You like Naruto?"

"Yup."

"Shit, this is awkward. I want to kill him, and you want to kill Hinata."

Neji jumped as Sasuke sat up abruptly, slamming his fist on the bar, as if hit with an epiphany. He turned to Neji, leaning much closer than he would have if he had been sober. The Hyuuga himself didn't really notice the closeness, anyway.

"Here's what we should do. I say we find them, and tell them how we feel."

Any other day, Neji would have been smart. He would have calmly explained to Sasuke that this was a bad idea, and that they should just continue to drink and hope for the best. But this wasn't any other day, this was today. And today, Neji chose to listen to the other drunk.

"Okay."

The two stood up, Neji putting his drink down, and stumbled towards the door. Once outside, they leaned against the side of the bar, trying to keep their balance as they looked left and right, trying to establish which way to go. Neji insisted they should head towards the restaurant the two had gone to, but Sasuke said it was too late, and they'd probably moved on. They both decided to go to the Hyuuga estate, instead, since Naruto would undoubtedly be walking Hinata home.

When they got there, they only had to wait about five minutes before the couple appeared down the street. Both looked stunned to see Neji and Sasuke teetering on their feet, completely drunk.

"Sasuke? Neji, what the hell are the two of you doing?" Naruto jogged towards them, steadying Sasuke at the last minute, just when the raven was about to fall.

"Naruto." Sasuke leaned against him with a smile, burying his face in the blond's neck and wrapping his arms around him. He let out an unattractive giggle. "You're so warm."

"N-Neji-nii-san?" Hinata asked as she neared her cousin, the other boy staring at her with a goofy grin. He started to fall forward but Hinata let out a small scream and lunged at him, catching him and struggling to keep him standing.

"Hinata, I'm sorry, but I think I need to take Sasuke home."

"Y-yes." the girl stuttered. "I-I need to t-take Neji-nii-san home, t-too."

"I'll talk to you tomorrow." Naruto pulled Sasuke off him before manoeuvring the raven onto his back, carrying him piggy-back style as he slowly headed away from the Hyuuga estate. "Teme, what the hell were you thinking, we have a mission tomorrow, dammit." he muttered.

Hinata watched Naruto walk away for a few seconds before turning back to Neji and wrapping one of his arms over her shoulders, helping him stumble into the estate and towards his house.

Before the two drunks were too far away from one another, Sasuke turned his head to look behind him at Neji before calling out. "Hey, Neji, looks like we'll both get what we want tonight!"

The Hyuuga just smirked drunkenly, calling back an agreement. Hinata and Naruto never saw it coming.

**END.**


	45. Challenge

#44)  
Requested by: Charlie911  
Characters: All except Gaara.  
Situation: Shikamaru posted a question around Konoha; Ino's doing. Whoever answers it right will get whatever they want.  
Requirement: Naruto gets it right.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

**

* * *

Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies. **

A/N: Hah! I couldn't help it! When I saw the situation, I was like "Dude, this HAS to be called 'The Challenge'..." So, it is! I'm such a loser :P

* * *

"Mendokuse." Shikamaru sighed as he posted up the last poster, Ino standing beside him with a giggle. "You do realize nobody is going to get this, right?" 

"Well, we'll just have to wait and see, won't we?" She tugged on his arm, leading him towards the tea house. "Come on, Shikamaru, aren't you just a _little_ curious to know who would be smart enough to figure out your little riddle?"

"Not particularly." he muttered, shoving his hands in his pockets, Ino still holding his arm. "And I don't like the thought of offering the winner anything they want."

"Don't worry, I'll be helping you along with that." She giggled and bounced excitedly, looking around. She noticed a few people looking at the posters she and Shikamaru had put up. Some of them were muttering under their breaths while others just shook their heads, not wanting to go insane trying to figure it out.

Shikamaru and Ino had written the riddle out, and then explained that they would be waiting in the tea house for exactly four hours. That was the length of time people had to figure out the riddle.

Shikamaru glanced at one of the posters as they passed, re-reading his question.

_There is a common English word which is nine letters long.  
__Each time you remove a letter from it, it still remains an English word—  
__From nine letters, all the way down to one single letter.  
__What is the original word, and what are the words it becomes as the letters are removed,  
__One at a time? (1)_

In all honesty, he didn't think anyone would get it, since it _was_ rather tough. But, when he got to the tea house, he was surprised to find over ten people there waiting. With a sigh of annoyance, Shikamaru and Ino both sat down and listened to each person as they said their answers. No one got it right.

Kiba had tried to convince him that his own name should work, until Shikamaru reminded him it had to be nine letters long. The dog-boy came back at least seven times, each time having an answer longer or shorter than nine letters. Shikamaru wanted to strangle him.

He'd actually assumed Neji would get it, but the Hyuuga hadn't found the right word, yet. He'd come close, but he hadn't won. Even Sasuke had been a disappointment.

All the people Shikamaru had always thought were smart had totally failed. Sakura had failed, as well. Lee had just been a joke. Shikamaru was getting bored, as he knew it would be impossible for anyone to figure it out.

A few senseis had come by trying to think about it, but none of them had managed, either. Iruka-sensei and Asuma-sensei decided to stick around with Shikamaru and Ino to see who would be smart enough to figure it out. By the time three hours and fifty minutes had passed, no one had succeeded.

"Can I go, now? No one's going to get it." Shikamaru sighed.

"No, there's still ten minutes." Ino insisted.

Just then, Naruto walked by the tea house, looking in. He paused with a frown before entering it and walking up to Shikamaru and the others. "Hey, Shikamaru. What are you still doing here?"

"Ino won't let me leave until the four hours are officially up."

"Wasn't this all null and void when someone guessed it right?" Naruto asked, confused.

"No one's guessed it right, yet." Ino replied.

"Are you serious? It's so easy! I was sure the first person to get here would've gotten it!"

Everyone stared at him, stunned. Was he serious? He thought it was easy? He's figured it out?! Shikamaru refused to believe it, so he leaned forward, his hands on the table in front of him.

"You know the answer?"

"Yeah. I love riddles. That one was easy, mind you, but it was still fun." Naruto grinned, putting both hands behind his head. The four behind the table shared a look, before looking back at the blond.

"Well, what's the answer?" Ino asked, skeptical. _Naruto_ knew the answer to something _Shikamaru_ had thought up?

"It's the word 'startling,' obviously." Naruto rolled his eyes. They all turned to Shikamaru, and were stunned to see his jaw had hit the ground. "If you remove a letter each time, you get the words starting, staring, string, sting, sing, sin, in and I." He smiled again.

"Is he right?" Asuma asked Shikamaru, who just nodded dumbly.

"Wait, are you telling me that _Naruto_ is the smartest person in this village, aside from _you_?!" Ino shrieked, just about ready to faint.

"Hey, you said on the posters you'd give the winner anything they wanted." Naruto realized, his grin widening. "I know what I want! A year's supply of ramen from Ichiraku!" He danced on the spot.

"Shikamaru!" Ino shrieked.

**END.**

* * *

(1) I wasn't smart enough to come up with something, so I got this from riddlenut dot com. That's an awesome site. 


	46. Wish Upon a Star

#45)  
Requested by: SimplyTurquoise  
Characters: young Naruto and young Sasuke.  
Situation: Tanabata (link for information http // www. lbcma. org. uk/ festivals/ Mtanabata. asp) It's the Japanese Star festival. In Japan people write their wishes on narrow strips of coloured paper and hang them. I was hoping the characters could write their wishes.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

"All right, everyone, come on, it's time to go." 

"Iruka-sensei." Naruto walked up to his favourite teacher, bouncing beside him and clutching his hand. The man looked down at the six year old with a gentle smile.

"What is it Naruto?"

"I don't understand what this festival is for. And why does the whole class have to go?" The blond motioned behind them, where the rest of their academy class was following, most of them saying dirty things about Naruto behind the blond's back. He didn't care, though. He was with Iruka-sensei, and Iruka-sensei was always nice to him.

"Well, Naruto, it's a special holiday." Iruka smiled. "What I'm going to ask you all to do is take a piece of paper, and write a wish on it. Then, I'm going to tie all your pieces of paper to a tree, and you can all go home and think as hard as you can about your wishes, and how to make them come true."

"But how will I know what to wish?!" Naruto asked as his face twisted into one of panic. "There are so many things I want to wish for, how do I choose just one?!"

The teacher chuckled and ruffled Naruto's hair. "Well, just choose the one you want the most."

"Like being Hokage?" Naruto asked excitedly.

"Yes, like being Hokage."

Iruka had always found that cute about Naruto, the way the blond always cared about the villagers, despite their horrid treatment of him. It made him really admire the child, and he sincerely hoped that whatever Naruto wished for tonight, it came true.

Naruto walked along beside Iruka happily, his hand still holding onto Iruka's, who was gently squeezing back. His mood soured, though, when Sasuke showed up beside him, looking bored and a little pouty.

"Something wrong, Sasuke-kun?" Iruka asked.

"I don't know why I have to do this. I'd rather train so I can become strong, like aniki." he muttered. Naruto just glared at him.

"Then why don't you wish to become stronger than him?" he said to the raven, annoyed. "This is supposed to be fun, stop making Iruka-sensei feel bad!"

"I'm not making Iruka-sensei feel bad! Right, Iruka-sensei?"

The older boy just chuckled, finding Naruto so cute when he got all defensive. He smiled reassuringly down at Sasuke. "No, you're not making me feel bad. But Naruto-kun is right." Iruka put his hand on the blond's head. "Maybe if you wish hard enough, you can become just as strong as your brother."

"I want to be stronger!" Sasuke insisted. "I want to show aniki how amazing I am!"

Naruto said nothing, his hand tightening around Iruka's as he stared at the ground. He didn't know what it was like to have a brother to compete against, and to be honest, he was jealous of Sasuke for it. The raven always complained about not being as strong as his brother, but Naruto felt that if he even had a brother, he would praise him, and not care about whether or not he was stronger or weaker than him.

"Well, here we are." Iruka called, briefly letting Naruto's hand go so he could turn around to address the class. "Everyone go and grab a strip of paper, and write a wish on it. When you're done, bring it back to me." Everyone ran off to do as he said, except for Naruto.

Iruka turned to him and bent down slightly, smiling. "Well? Go on. Don't you want to write down your wish about becoming Hokage?"

"What about you?" Naruto asked, confused. "Don't you want to make a wish, Iruka-sensei."

"Tell you what, why don't you make a wish for me?" Iruka smiled.

"Kay!" Naruto turned and ran towards the strips of paper. He grabbed two of them and a pen before running to a secluded area and sitting down on a step. He noticed that Sasuke wasn't too far away from him, but ignored the other boy as he tapped his chin. He wondered what he should wish for Iruka sensei.

_Well, Iruka-sensei spends a lot of time with me. Even though I like it, maybe it's because he doesn't have very many friends. Maybe he needs help making friends with the other senseis._ Nodding to himself, Naruto started writing on the strip of paper.

**For Iruka-sensei: Wishing to make more friends with the other senseis.**

The boy paused, and then grinned slightly.

**And buy more ramen for Naruto.**

He chuckled to himself as he set the piece of paper aside. He didn't know if both wishes could come true, but he wanted to write the friends one first because if only one would come true, then at least Naruto knew the most important one would be the one.

He then took the other strip and stared at it for a few seconds before writing his wish on it.

**Naruto: I want to be Hokage one day so I can protect the village from the bad people.**

He held it up, smiling to himself as he admired his work, and then grabbed the strip with Iruka's wish on it. Just as he was about to stand and leave, Sasuke sat down beside him, but didn't look at him. Naruto just stared.

"What did you write?"

"I can't tell you, it won't come true!" Naruto insisted, almost appalled that the other had wanted to find out about _his_ wish.

"I'll show you mine." Sasuke whispered.

"I already _know_ yours." the blond reminded. "You were talking about it just a minute ago."

"Hn." Sasuke stared at his folded piece of paper, then held it out to Naruto. "Come on."

With a sigh, the blond looked at his two pieces of paper before holding his out to Sasuke, grabbing the raven's. He looked at it, and squinted to read the small writing in the dim light.

**Uchiha Sasuke would like to surpass his brother and gain the respect of his father.**

Naruto pouted slightly as he noticed Sasuke's vocabulary far surpassed his own, but he didn't dwell on it as he handed the piece of paper back. Sasuke did the same, grabbing his own and standing. Naruto heard him walking away.

"You didn't laugh."

The footsteps stopped, but neither turned to look at the other. "Why would I laugh?"

"Because it's stupid." Naruto kicked at a pebble. Sasuke said nothing, he just walked away. Naruto turned when the other's footsteps had disappeared, and smiled brightly. He jumped to his feet and rushed back to Iruka, handing him the strips proudly.

"What did you wish for me?" Iruka asked as he looked at his piece of paper. He was stunned, looking down at Naruto before smiling slightly and ruffling his hair. "Thanks, Naruto. I'll buy you some ramen on the way home."

"The wishes really _do_ come true!" Naruto laughed. Iruka chuckled as well as he continued collecting the other students' wishes.

A few minutes later, when he had everyone's, he told them all they could go home as he started tying them to a tree, Naruto sitting at the base of it. Sasuke was standing not too far off, watching as the wishes were put up. Naruto was watching him as he stood there. Once Iruka was finished, the raven turned and wandered back towards his home.

"Iruka-sensei?"

"Hm?" Iruka moved away from the tree as Naruto stood, the two starting towards Ichiraku.

"Does this happen every year?"

"Yup. Why, do you already know your wish for next year?"

Naruto nodded eagerly as he grabbed Iruka's hand, holding it and swinging it slightly. "Uh huh!"

"Well, what is it?" the sensei asked with a smile.

"I'm going to wish for Sasuke to have more friends." The brunette was stunned. "He always looks so lonely."

Iruka got over his shock, pulling Naruto into a half hug as he smiled at the other's selflessness.

"That's very nice of you, Naruto. And I'm sure Sasuke would love it."

**END.**


	47. Get Well Soon

#46)  
Requested by: Yuuki Toshi  
Characters: Sasuke and Naruto.  
Situation: Naruto is taking care of an injured Sasuke. Sasuke obviously doesn't want Naruto to see him in this weak state, so he gets all crabby.  
Pairings: SasuNaru

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

Naruto grunted as he half-dragged Sasuke towards the raven's home, stopping on occasion to catch his breath before starting to drag him again. "God, teme, lose weight!" 

"I told you, I'm _fine_!" the black-haired jounin growled angrily, even as his legs refused to listen to him.

"Sure, that's why you're doing such a stellar job at walking, teme." Naruto grunted as he pulled the other up the front steps of his huge house, kicking open the raven's door. Sasuke glared at him for the damage, but didn't say anything.

Once inside, Naruto kicked the front door shut before he manoeuvred the raven towards the bathroom, letting him fall on the toilet seat before the blond slumped against the door and struggled to catch his breath. Sasuke had refused to be carried, and the dragging had been more exhausting than anything else he could've imagined. Since he had to drag, it meant that his moving forward was made twice as hard. If he'd carried the stupid, stubborn Uchiha, he would've made it back in half the time, and wouldn't have been nearly as winded.

"Okay, time to clean up your wounds." Naruto said as he unzipped his jounin vest and threw it on the ground.

Sasuke's eye twitched. _Why is he undressing? What is he doing?!_ His mind panicked, wondering what was going on. Why was _Naruto_ the one getting undressed when _Sasuke_ was the one who was going to be showering? This was ridiculous! He didn't want to see the dobe naked! Mostly because he knew his man-parts would get a little too excited.

Everyone seemed to know he had a crush on Naruto. Well, everyone except _Naruto_, since the blond was so damn _thick_. Sasuke sometimes wondered why he bothered at all, considering the denseness of the other jounin.

When he looked back at Naruto, he noticed the blond had removed his vest and long-sleeved shirt, his smooth, tanned chest exposed. The necklace he'd received from Tsunade back when he was twelve still hung from around his neck, swaying from side to side as he moved closer to Sasuke. _At least he's still wearing pants._

All thoughts froze in his mind as the blond unzipped Sasuke's own jounin vest, the raven trying to jerk away but having nowhere so go, since he was against a wall already.

"What are you doing, dobe?!"

"Um, undressing you so I can wash you."

"I can undress and wash myself!"

"You can't even _stand_ by yourself, teme." Naruto rolled his eyes as he continued to fight against the other man, trying to get him undressed. "Will you just stop! I'm not gonna strip you naked, I'll let you keep your boxers!"

To Sasuke, that wasn't exactly the problem. It was the thought of Naruto touching his body while he washed him. That, and the fact that Sasuke _hated_ being this vulnerable in front of Naruto. He had his pride, after all, and he knew Naruto would tease him about this later. Naruto _always_ teased him about things like this later.

While he was doing it, Naruto was too concentrated on the task at hand—in this case, washing Sasuke's injuries—to tease him about it, but once everything was all right again, Sasuke never heard the end of it. It was a kind of cute quality about Naruto, but he really wished the blond wouldn't tease him so much.

After much struggling and yelling, Naruto finally got Sasuke into the tub and started running the warm water. Sasuke figured there was no point in struggling anymore, Naruto wouldn't leave, no matter how much Sasuke asked him to.

Once the bath was decently filled, already turning a light pink colour due to the dried blood starting to tint the bath water, Naruto reached over to grab a wash-cloth, pouring soap onto it before telling Sasuke to turn around. Embarrassed at being ordered around by Naruto, Sasuke complied.

Naruto proceeded to wash the dried blood off the Uchiha's back, being mindful not to rub too hard on the other's wounds. Sasuke winced, but made sure not to make a sound. He didn't need to be called a wimp by Naruto, that would just be degrading.

"You shouldn't have done that, you know." Naruto whispered.

"Done what?"

"Jumped in front of me to take that attack. You know the Kyuubi would have healed me."

Sasuke was silent for a few seconds as he focused on the way Naruto ran the cloth across his back. "I wasn't thinking. My body moved on its own."

"It seems to do that a lot." Naruto whispered.

"I guess some part of me is never gonna get over the fact that you're not an idiotic twelve year old anymore." He smirked slightly. "Now you're an idiotic twenty-four year old."

Naruto hit him lightly in the shoulder before telling him to turn around. He washed the Uchiha's arms and legs, but when he went to wash the other's chest, Sasuke grabbed the cloth. Naruto held the other end, not letting go.

"I can wash my own chest, dobe."

"You shouldn't be trying to move too much." Naruto insisted. "Can you let go of your damn pride for five minutes!"

"It's not pride, dammit, will you just let go!"

"Then what the hell is it?!"

"I don't want you touching me!" Sasuke screamed.

Naruto's head snapped back, dozens of emotions flashing across his face at once. Shock, anger, resentment, but most of all—hurt. Sasuke didn't understand the emotions until he went back over what he'd said. He realized that it had come out completely wrong. He hadn't meant it like that at all!

"Naruto—"

The blond stood abruptly, his eyes averted as he turned to grab his shirt, yanking it over his head. "I'll have Sakura come by in a minute. I'll just go get her, and she'll be here to help treat your wounds. You can finish washing up until she gets here."

"Naruto, wait, I—"

"Don't worry, Sasuke." Naruto turned to him, clenching his vest angrily in his hand. "I won't bother you anymore."

He turned, exiting the bathroom as Sasuke called after him, struggling to stand up. Pain shot through his body as he moved, but it wasn't even registering when compared to the pain in his chest. He tripped on his way out of the tub, letting out a shout of pain, half-hoping Naruto would come back once he heard it. The blond's footsteps were still heading down the stairs.

"Fuck! _Fuck!_" Sasuke forced himself to his feet, rushing down the corridor. He reached the stairs as Naruto headed for the front door. "Naruto, wait! I didn't mean it like that!" He started hurriedly down the stairs, ignoring the pain that was shooting through his limbs.

"Go back and finish your bath, Sasuke." Naruto insisted, his hand on the doorknob.

Before he could turn it, Sasuke was at the bottom of the stairs. The raven grabbed the blond's arm, wrenched him around, slammed him back against the door, and then buried his fists in the front of the blond's shirt. Naruto was waiting to be punched or something when Sasuke's face suddenly smashed against his, their lips meshed together harshly as Sasuke kissed him desperately.

The Uchiha could feel himself getting hard at their proximity, his lips moving against Naruto's for a few seconds longer before he pulled away, resting his forehead against Naruto's, his eyes closed and his hands still gripping the blond's shirt.

"_That_ is why I didn't want you to touch me." he said as he rocked his hips against Naruto's.

His eyes snapped open as he heard the blond groan, seeing Naruto's head was thrown back and his eyes were closed. He blinked, then experimentally rocked his hips against Naruto's again, the blond gripping his shoulders with both hands. Sasuke grinned. _Well, this is an unexpected development._

"I think we should take this upstairs." Naruto whispered, opening his eyes and staring back at Sasuke with lust.

"I couldn't agree more." Sasuke grinned.

**END.**


	48. I R KIBA

#47)  
Requested by: faye-assassin  
Characters: Kiba  
Situation: People think Kiba is a barbarian.  
Pairings: No Pairings.

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

There are many people in Konoha who highly respect the Inuzuka clan. After all, they're powerful, and they have loyal companions who will do just about anything for them, even give up their lives. It was no secret that they were one of the strongest clans in the village. 

The only person most people didn't associate with the Inuzuka clan—was Kiba. The boy was just so different from everyone else in his clan, it was ridiculous. For one thing, he had a dog. Everyone else in his clan had wolves, but he had a _dog_. That in and of itself just proved he wasn't as amazing as the others in his clan.

And every time he returned from a mission, he would wander around town for hours, still covered in dirt and blood, and not go home to shower. He even had the nerve to walk into tea houses and restaurants to grab a bite to eat or chit chat with friends, still looking like something the cat dragged in.

Most people knew he hated baths, it was almost normal for them to imagine. After all, all dogs hated baths. And Kiba was most _definitely_ a dog. He could go weeks on end without taking a bath, which made him smell like a sewer. It was disgusting.

That, and he lacked manners. Most wouldn't be surprised to see him sitting up on a chair, eating with his hands and chewing with his mouth open with drool dripping down from the corner of his mouth. He was a dog, after all, it was to be expected. He didn't know how to act in civilized society, he was lucky to be allowed to be present in it at all.

Nobody wanted to get too close, worried that he might just jump on someone and think the behaviour was appropriate. Some were concerned that one day he would just forfeit clothes altogether and would run around naked, like some kind of psychotic beast. After all, dogs didn't wear clothes.

But, his teammates loved him, because they knew the Kiba others saw wasn't the real Kiba. He _did_ bathe a lot, he just trained so often that no matter how many times he showered, he still smelled bad because he was back out training a few hours later. When he returned from a mission, the reason he didn't go straight home to wash up was because he was starving, and stopped to grab some food beforehand. Most of the time, he'd run into friends and have a chat with them, which further delayed him from returning home.

His method of eating was no different from anyone else's, it was just the people looking at him through biased eyes, which immediately turned his normal eating habits into ones of disgust and disrespectful ways.

As for him one day stripping and running through the streets naked, that wasn't likely to happen considering the fact that Kiba hated public bathhouses, since he didn't like others seeing more of him than his mother had when he was born. It just worried him, and made him uncomfortable, so Shino actually started _laughing_ whenever he heard people saying this about _Kiba_.

The boy himself didn't mind, though. He didn't care that people saw him as a barbarian or a dog. In fact, it amused him. It just meant that when he became a jounin, he could laugh in those people's faces or something. That, and if the village ever came under attack, he could save them all and then demand an apology.

Yeah, Kiba didn't care. As long as his friends knew who he was, he didn't mind pretending to be uncivilized in front of other people.

**END.**


	49. My Kitty!

#48)  
Requested by: the leviathan  
Characters: Naruto, Sai and a kitty  
Situation: Naruto finds a stray cat in the streets and brings it to Sai.  
Pairings: No pairings.

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

"Sai, Sai, Sai!" The boy turned around as his new roommate slammed through the door, holding something behind his back. He smiled at the energetic blond. 

"What is it, Naruto?"

"Look!" Naruto brought the object behind his back forward, holding it out towards Sai with both hands. The grey and white cat blinked huge green eyes at the ANBU before letting out a small meow. "Isn't he cute?! Can we keep him? Oh please, oh please, oh please!"

"Naruto, this cat probably belongs to someone."

"No he doesn't, he was left out in the alley all by himself, meowing and hungry! I went to Ichiraku to feed it!"

Sai blinked, looking at the cat. It had eaten ramen? Cats did that? "You fed him ramen?"

"No." Naruto rolled his eyes. "I'm not _that_ stupid. Old man Teuchi gave me a bowl of milk for the little guy." The blond brought the cat back against his chest and cuddled him, the cat purring contently.

"Why do you want to keep a cat? What purpose does it serve?" Sai asked with a sigh as he sat down on the couch.

"It's just a companion. And it's cute. Look at the little guy." Naruto put the cat down on the couch beside Sai, the ANBU looking at it. The cat's tail swished from side to side as it stared at Sai before walking up to him and climbing onto his leg. It then meowed cutely as it clawed its way up his arm, the ANBU wincing. It finally reached Sai's head and started pawing at his hair before biting it.

"Hey, hey! Make it stop!" Sai reached up to grab the cat, but Naruto snatched it away first, hugging it tightly.

"It's so cute! Oh, please, Sai? Can't we just keep him, please?"

The raven glared at the little beast for a few seconds before sighing, shaking his head. "We'll keep it for one week. _Only_ one week. If I can put up with it, then we can keep it for longer. If not, then it goes back out where it came from."

Naruto pouted at this answer, but nodded, petting the cat lovingly. "You'll have to be on your best behaviour, kitty. If you're not, Sai won't let me keep you, and you're too cute to put back outside."

The blond rubbed his nose against the cat's, the small animal meowing as it continued to purr. Naruto laughed, swinging it gently in his arms as he headed for his room to try and find something to use as a kitty litter. He knew he'd have to get some food and a real cat litter, but for now, he didn't have time. He knew they had tuna, so the cat could live off that for a while.

There was a knock at the door, Sai standing to answer it. When he did, Sakura stood in front of him, smiling.

"Hi, Sai. I'm here for Naruto. Tsunade has a solo mission for him to go on."

"Eh?!" They both looked towards the corridor as they heard Naruto's cry. "But that's not fair! I won't even be here with the cat, and it's only allowed for one week! If it's a solo mission, I'll be gone for months!"

"Don't argue with me, Naruto." Sakura sighed. "Argue with Tsunade. Come on, she needs to brief you."

Naruto pouted as he wandered towards the door, turning to Sai before leaving. "If I'm not back in a week, can you just keep the cat until I get back? Please?" he pleaded. Sai sighed and nodded.

"Sure."

Naruto grinned and left.

The ANBU turned and noticed the cat sitting at the entrance to the corridor, his tail swishing gently as he regarded the raven-haired shinobi with interest. Sai just shook his head. Naruto was going to pay for this.

* * *

A few days had passed since Naruto left, and Sai found himself depressed and missing the other's company horribly. He didn't like being alone anymore, since he'd been alone all his life until he met Naruto. Being roommates with the blond was the best thing he'd ever done, but with Naruto gone, it was just depressing. 

He kept shooing the cat away when it came near him, getting aggravated with the damn thing, since it wouldn't leave him alone. Without Naruto in the house to pet it, the cat kept bugging Sai, and it was driving him up the wall.

It was until about a week and a half after Naruto left that he got _really_ depressed. He was lying on his back in bed, staring at the ceiling, wishing for Naruto to hurry up and come home. He missed him so much it was starting to hurt. He felt a small weight appear beside him and turned his head, noticing it was the cat. He lacked the energy to send it away, so he just let it do whatever it wanted.

Happy with this turn of events, the cat went about walking onto Sai's stomach and kneading the other's flesh to get it more comfortable before finally curling up and lying down. It was purring the whole time as it stared at Sai's face, the boy still looking at the ceiling.

Having the cat there suddenly made Sai smile as he glanced down at it, noticing the cat staring. The raven held one hand up and the cat immediately leapt towards it, pushing his head against the hand, Sai starting to pet him. It purred even louder, now.

"You know, you kind of remind me of Naruto, in a way. You never give up. I kept pushing you away, but you just kept on coming back."

That was when Sai realized that maybe with the cat around, he wouldn't get so lonely. If he let the animal follow him around and sleep on his bed and everything, it would feel like Naruto was still around, too, since both he and the cat had the same amount of energy.

"You don't have a name yet, huh?" Sai smiled, continuing to pet the cat. "Naruto didn't have time to name you, and I never did, either. I think I'll call you—Naru-chan. You're similar enough to Naruto that the name suits you."

Sai let a smile spread across his face as the cat fell down beside him on the bed, curling up in the ANBU's side and the raven continued to pet it absent-mindedly, staring at the ceiling once more. Yeah, with the cat around, Naruto's absence wasn't as bad as it had been previously.

_Maybe I'll let Naruto keep the cat, _Sai thought with a smile. _I'll just have to make him think I'm doing it for him. Right, Naru-chan?_ He looked down at the cat, who had started to fall asleep. Sai kept petting it, anyway. _This can be our little secret. Our friendship will be a little secret from Naruto._ He chuckled to himself, and the remainder of the time Naruto spent on his mission didn't seem so bad to Sai, anymore. He didn't feel as lonely.

**END.**


	50. Clones

#49)  
Requested by: lunabasketcase  
Characters: Sasuke, Naruto and Sakura.  
Situation: Sakura and Sasuke spot Naruto making two clones of himself before turning them into Sakura and Sasuke. The clones are much nicer to Naruto. What will happen once they're poofed away and his teammates confront him?  
Pairings: SasuNaru

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

"Naruto!" Sakura screamed as she walked through the forest with Sasuke. "Naruto, where are you?" 

"Oi, dobe!" Sasuke called, getting annoyed.

"Don't call him that, he'll _never_ come out." Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Well, he's the one being an idiot." Sasuke growled.

During training, Sasuke had insulted Naruto, as per usual, and Sakura had started laughing loudly at something in particular that the raven had said to their blond teammate. Naruto had run off into the forest and hadn't returned. Kakashi had ordered Sakura and Sasuke to find him and apologize, and much to their annoyance, they had been forced to agree.

Kakashi was still waiting for them in the training grounds, trying not to betray how worried he was about Naruto, but he wanted to let Sakura and Sasuke find him, first, so he'd decided to stay behind for about an hour. If none of them returned by then, he would go off in search of them.

The two teammates walked in silence for a little while as they scanned the area, looking for their teammate. Suddenly, they heard talking, and their heads whipped in that direction.

"Finally." Sakura muttered as she and Sasuke made their way towards Naruto's voice. They both frowned and quietened their movements as they listened to the blond talk, peeking through a set of bushes as Naruto paced back and forth in a clearing. His fists were clenched at his sides as unshed tears lingered in his eyes, the blond's jaw clenching.

"Why do they _always_ have to be so mean to me?! I get enough shit from the villagers, they _know_ that, but they still insist on making my life worse than it is. I don't ask for much, I just ask to be respected. Sakura doesn't laugh at _Sasuke_. Nobody ever insults _Sasuke_. Everyone on my team gets respect except for me!"

Naruto kicked at a rock, making it go flying into the trees. He was so angry and hurt he didn't ever want to go back to Konoha, not _ever_. He tried so hard for everyone, to be a good ninja, to one day try and be Hokage, hell he'd even brought Sasuke back from Orochimaru and helped him get a pardon from Tsunade, but _still_ everyone treated him like shit! What did he need to do to get some respect?!

With an angry huff, Naruto performed a seal, two clones suddenly appearing, one on either side of him. Each clone did another seal and henge'd. Sasuke and Sakura both stared, confused, as they noticed themselves standing on either side of Naruto.

The blond wiped at his eyes to rid them of the tears before plastering a grin on his face and putting both hands behind his head. "Hey Sakura-chan, teme!"

"Hn, dobe." The Sasuke clone smirked, his hands shoved in his pockets. "I was thinking maybe we could spar today. I created a new jutsu last night and wanted to try it out on someone I knew would be able to handle it."

"Sure, Sasuke-teme, that'd be great." Naruto's grin widened. "I'll be able to defeat it before it even makes a grand opening."

The Sasuke clone snorted, then rolled his eyes. "Doubtful. But you really should show me how to do Kage Bunshin. I can't seem to do it, and it's driving me insane."

"It's my signature move, I can't teach it to you." Naruto insisted with a laugh.

"Mou, you're so mean to poor Sasuke-kun." the Sakura clone insisted, then giggled slightly. "But Naruto, I noticed you've been having problems controlling your chakra. Is the fox causing problems for you?"

Naruto sighed and nodded. "Yeah, a little bit. Every time we merge a little more, I have to relearn how to control my chakra."

"I'm good at chakra control." the Sakura clone insisted. "I could help you out, if you like."

"Really, Sakura-chan?" Naruto grinned. "That'd be great, thanks so much."

"You're welcome." she smiled at him.

"Well, we better get back to Kakashi-sensei. The pervert is probably just about finished his book." Naruto sighed.

"You're right. Come on, dobe. I want to spar with you again." The Sasuke clone headed towards the trees, and then poofed out of existence.

"You should really beat Sasuke one day, Naruto, so that you can tease him every now and then." The Sakura clone giggled before running towards where the Sasuke clone had gone before also disappearing.

Naruto let his hands fall from behind his head as the smile faded and he took a deep breath. He felt calmer, now, and thought that maybe he would be able to face Sakura and Sasuke again.

His teammates, on the other hand, were staring at the blond, stunned. They had no idea they upset Naruto that much, and they realized that his clone-versions of them were so much nicer. They respected him more while still being snarky towards him, but only to a certain extent. They didn't insult, they just teased.

"Sasuke-kun." Sakura turned to him, but his eyes stayed focused on Naruto. "Do you think—maybe we _are_ a little too mean to him?"

Sasuke didn't reply. He just clenched his fists and walked out of the bushes. Stunned, Sakura decided to follow. When they emerged, Naruto turned, his eyes wide as he stared at his two teammates.

"How-how much did you hear? How long were you there?!" Naruto demanded, his voice going higher and higher.

"Oi, dobe." Naruto winced, waiting for the insult. Waiting for Sasuke to make fun of him and call him a loser, and make him want to die. However, that wasn't what Sasuke said. "I love you."

Sakura and Naruto both blinked at him.

"What?" Naruto finally asked. Sakura just stared at him, confused. She wasn't jealous or anything, since she was dating Lee, but she was wondering why Sasuke would say something as ridiculous as that.

The raven raked a hand through his hair with an annoyed sigh. "You know my people skills are lacking, and I don't know how to express myself, so I usually make fun of you and insult you as a sort of way of showing my affection towards you. I never knew that it actually hurt you so much, otherwise I would've stopped and just said what I said. I love you."

Naruto was silent again, not sure what to say. Sakura decided to jump in, then, clearing her throat.

"Um, are you really having trouble with Kyuubi's chakra again? Because you know that you can always ask me for help when you need it, Naruto. I don't mind helping you. And I'm sorry I laughed at what Sasuke said, it was—it was just funny. Even if he'd said it about Lee, or Kakashi-sensei, I still would've laughed. I didn't mean for it to hurt your feelings."

Naruto stared at the two of them for a long time before turning to look at where the two clones had disappeared. "They were over there." he muttered to himself. "And I have their memories in my head already, so they definitely poofed out of existence." He frowned, turning back to Sasuke and Sakura. "So where did you come from?"

Sasuke rolled his eyes. "Dobe, it's us. We just didn't realize how horrible we were to you, so we're apologizing. Will you come back to the training grounds, now, please? Sakura can help you with your chakra while I spar with Kakashi-sensei, then I'll bring you out for ramen."

"Are you—serious?" Naruto asked, almost afraid to believe it. He kept expecting this to be a joke.

"Yes, I'm serious. Call it our first date." He pointed a finger at Naruto. "I don't care if you're not gay, I'll _make_ you gay."

Naruto just nodded dumbly, not sure what to say to that.

"Okay." he whispered.

"Good. Come on, dobe."

Sakura bounced towards him with a kind smile and looped her arm through one of his. Sasuke waited for them to join his side before wrapping an arm around Naruto's shoulders.

"We're a team, Naruto, so you have to know we'll always care about you. Even if we fight or insult each other, we'll always be a team." Sakura kissed his cheek.

"Thanks." Naruto whispered, a smile tugging at his lips. "That's all I ever wanted."

**END.**


	51. Scotland, My Homeland

#50)  
Requested by: LeolaTaylor  
Characters: Sasuke and Gaara.  
Situation: Gaara is Scottish and starts wearing a kilt. Sasuke sees him and asks him about it.  
Pairings: GaaSasu.  
Accompanying picture by LeolaTaylor: http // www. deviantart . com / view / 35641088

* * *

**Disclaimer: K. Masashi's bishies.**

* * *

Gaara Sabaku had always been considered weird at his high school. Everyone always thought there was something... well, _not right_ about the redhead. He was stoic, uncaring, and he never talked to anyone. Oh, and he liked to pick fights, too. He was just an all-around mean person, and nobody liked trying to get close to him. 

The only person who ever talked to him was Sasuke Uchiha, but he usually only did it for class purposes. For example, if he was zoning out, he would turn to Gaara and ask what page of their book they were on, or he would ask to borrow Gaara's charcoal during art class. Sasuke was the only one who wasn't afraid to talk to Gaara, and perhaps that was the reason the redhead had started falling for the raven boy.

It was no secret Sasuke was bi-sexual, he'd had many boyfriends and girlfriends, most of them in quick succession. The raven never seemed to be able to stay single for long, but now, Gaara had found out Sasuke was single, and had been for about two weeks. He was nervous, but he figured he would ask Sasuke out before the end of the week.

That was when his father had presented him with a birthday gift from his grandmother, the redhead opening it stoically and looking inside. It was a kilt. He actually quite liked it, and decided that the next day at school, he would wear it. He didn't mind going around without anything on underneath, it actually sounded rather pleasant.

So, the next morning, Gaara put on his kilt and headed for school, ignoring all the looks he got from people. He could tell some of them wanted to laugh, but they wouldn't dare to, for fear that the redhead would kick the shit out of them.

It didn't even really occur to Gaara until he saw Sasuke walking down the corridor that maybe the raven would think he was an idiot for having worn it. He kept his face emotionless as Sasuke looked up from rummaging in his bag and locked eyes with him. His dark chocolate eyes traveled down the length of Gaara's body to the kilt he was wearing, and when Gaara stopped in the middle of the corridor, Sasuke stopped right in front of him.

"Are you Scottish?" the raven asked him, honestly interested. Gaara just nodded. "I never knew that. You don't talk much, so I guess it would make sense that I wouldn't know." He looked back down at the kilt. "You don't wear anything under those, right?"

"No."

"Sounds comfortable." Sasuke sounded serious.

"It is." Gaara replied.

Sasuke smirked at him. "Got an extra? Maybe I'll wear one, too. I wouldn't mind a healthy breeze around my privates."

"I'm sure I could get my grandmother to send another one."

"No shit?" Sasuke smiled. "That would be pretty cool. We could walk around like twins, or something. I wish my heritage was more interesting, but I'm just half-Japanese and half-American. It's not too thrilling."

"I think that's pretty interesting." Gaara said.

"Really? Well, thanks, but being Scottish is ten times cooler." Sasuke smirked.

Gaara swallowed hard, but kept his face neutral as he studied the Uchiha's features, working up the courage to ask. When his mouth opened and the words started coming out, there was no turning back.

"Would you like to have dinner with me?"

Sasuke stared at him for a few seconds before smiling. "Dinner, huh? Like, a date?"

"Yes." Gaara's heart started palpitating faster in his chest, but he focused on Sasuke's answer instead of his beating heart.

"Sure. But under one condition." Sasuke leaned forward, pressing his lips gently against Gaara's. "You have to keep the kilt."

The redhead's eyes widened slightly, but nothing else changed on his features, and he nodded. "Of course."

"Good. I'll catch you around the back of the school when we're let out." Sasuke started walking again, passing Gaara.

"Why out back?" The redhead was hurt Sasuke didn't want to be seen with him, but the answer he got made that thought vanish instantly.

"Because I'm not much of an exhibitionist, so when I blow you, I'd prefer to have privacy."

Gaara was suddenly glad he was wearing a kilt, because it hid his erection a lot better than a pair of pants would have.

**END.**

* * *

**A.N: AND I AM DONE! NO MORE!!!! **

**On another note, I was planning on starting my new multi after finishing this, but that has to be delayed since I have to write what totals up to 78 pages in the next two weeks, so suffice it to say I am panicking hardcore. So, unfortunately, it won't be coming out until later, but I will try my best to have it started before exams, cause that would just be mean to have y'all wait until the summer. **

**Also, review replies will have to wait until I finish said papers, so please bear with me (sweatdrop)**

**Thanks for all the support I got for this XD It was muchly appreciated! **


End file.
